Beach Retreat
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: What could be better than taking the Thunder God Tribe, Mirajane, her siblings, and the Master on a vacation with you? Anything. Laxus could literally think of a million other things. Too bad he's not allowed to do any of them... - Set in Parenthood series.
1. Chapter 1

Beach Retreat

Chapter 1

"You're a baby, Pike. That's how come you have to sit in Mommy's lap."

"Nate," Mira sighed. "Leave your brother alone."

It was true enough. Pike, at all of three years old, was being a baby. Nate was sure even he would have to admit that. The thing was though that Pike just didn't like change. Or being new places. And, as it was, he was going to a very new place.

They were riding a train which, usually wasn't that big of deal. They'd just go to another town to have lunch or shopping or something and be back home before nightfall. That wasn't the case that day as they'd taken not only luggage with them, but also all his aunts and uncles. Ever and Elfman and Lisanna and Bickslow. Even Freed was somewhere on the train.

Not sitting with them though. They were off in other parts of the train. He could see Elfman and Evergreen, only a few rows over, but Bickslow and Lisanna were nowhere to be found. He saw them and Freed board though.

Oh. And his cousin Mace was with them. He was sitting with them. Across from him, in fact, with his brother Nate. Pike was sitting in his mother's lap, snuggled up to her. Another huge cause of his anxiety was probably his father, who was next to him, white knuckled and looking queasy. He was never good at riding on the train, but the one they were on that day seemed to be rather long and watching the man was not putting Pike at ease.

At all.

Then, of course, there was the fact that he didn't know where his poor doggy was. They'd taken him with them, but when they got there, they had to put him in a cage which, for the record, the dog had _not_ liked. Pike and Nate hadn't liked it much either. Or Mace. It wasn't fair. Their doggy was just as much a part as the family as any of them. How could they shove him in a crate and just forget about him?

Huh?

Pretty easily for Nate.

Err, rather, Laxus had explained to the boy that there was nothing they could do, it was protocol, and yes, fine, Natsu's stupid cat got to ride on the train, but what could Laxus do? Their dog didn't talk. He was just an animal.

Which Pike didn't like. Though Nate seemed to find a difference between Carla, Happy, and Lily from their doggy, he did not see one at all. So what? They had wings and possessed human characteristics. What difference did it make? Their doggy was their best friend! How could they ditch him?

"It's true," Nathan argued with Mira. "He's being a baby. And it's not-"

"Nathan," Laxus growled though he didn't open his eyes or move from his slouched position. "Leave your brother alone. And don't argue with your- Oh jeez."

Nathan and Mace both snickered as the slayer shifted, moaning loudly. Mirajane though just reached over with the hand that wasn't snuggling Pike to rub the man's arm.

"You okay, dragon?"

Grunt.

"I know you wanted to use your Lightning Body, but it was just too long a distance. I didn't want you to get stuck somewhere or use up all your magic or-"

"Demon," he groaned. "Just shut up."

"You're not nice," Nathan complained from his seat across from them. "Don't be mean."

"Nate, just let him be," Mira hummed as Pike nuzzled his head against her chest. "We'll only be on this train for a bit longer. Then you boys will get to see just how great this vacation will be."

Pike wasn't so sure. They'd never gone on such a big trip before with everyone. And though Mira kept insisting it was a vacation, he was concerned that they'd packed so much. Not to mention the last straggler that had come along.

"You don't look too well, boy," Makarov remarked as he happened to pass the aisle then, coming from the bathroom no doubt. "Don't tell me you need me to sit here and hold your hand?"

"Screw off, Gramps," Laxus growled though Nate, Mace, and Pike all wanted the man to come sit with them. He could probably fit between the older two boys, on their side of things, but with a snicker and a look from Mirajane, the elderly man went on.

He was just lucky that he was allowed to come with them on the vacation, really. Laxus had been stark against it at first, but somehow, he'd weaseled his way in. It wasn't every day that the old man got a free trip down to a beach house to spend some great time with his great-grandsons.

Not to mention all those bikini-clad women…

Hehehe.

After the man walked off, Pike whine some more before closing his eyes and praying for sleep. That's all he wanted then. To go to sleep. And he did.

The next time he awoke it was to Mirajane setting him down.

"Can you walk?" he heard her ask as his eyes, still heavy with sleep, struggled to open. "Mommy's gotta carry something else."

When he forced his eyelids opened finally he found that they were no longer on the train. Instead, they were at the station everyone gathered around then. He could hear Bickslow snickering loudly and teasing Aunt Ever as she hissed in return though most of her words were directed at Elfman as she complained about having to carry one of her bags.

There was a far more important noise though that took the three-year-old's attention.

"Hi!" He was animated then as he ran the short distance from Mirajane (she had her arms full of luggage and wasn't able to grab him) and over to where his father was, their prized dog with him. On a leash though which he knew the doggy hated, but what could be done? "Hi!"

"Pike," Laxus grumbled. "You don't run from your mother."

Nate was there with him too, petting the dog. He had his little backpack of some of his stuff on his back. Mace did as well. At the sight of his brother, Nate moved to hand off a much smaller backpack that was on the ground next to him.

"Here, Pike," he said. "You gotta carry your own stuff. Else you get a spankin'."

"What?" Mira was over there then and glared at Laxus. "Did you tell them that?"

"I… Demon, shush. We gotta go. Is everyone- Damn it, Bickslow. Leave Ever alone and get your shit. We're leaving."

"Watch your mouth, dragon," Mira said, giving him a look before looking down at the boys. To Pike, she said, "Mommy has to help carry stuff. Can you carry your little bag, baby? And hold onto Master's hand?"

Huh! Gramps! How had he forgot about the man? When he took to looking around he found him standing with Lisanna and rushed over to him to do just that. Daddy seemed like he was taking care of the doggy, after all.

"Hello, boy," Makarov greeted as the little boy slipped a hand into his. "You have a good rest?"

Meh. He'd had better. Not to mention, though he'd gotten a boost from seeing his doggy, he was starting wind back down. He was sleepy.

After explaining this to Gramps in his broken English, the old man let him ride up on his shoulders to save him from walking so much. Laxus scolded him when he saw it, said that Gramps was too old to carry him around, but Makarov only waved the younger man off.

Pike really liked his grandfather. He was very funny. And it made Nate so jealous to see him on the man's shoulders. It was great.

"Wow," Bickslow remarked when, after walking for what felt like ever, they arrived at the place. "This is great. How do you know this guy again, Ever?"

"Yes," Freed remarked as they all came to a stop in front of the beach home. "What sort of person just offers up such a place like this for free?"

"Someone who owed me a favor," she remarked as she sat what was in her arms down before bounding up the stairs, digging her key out of her pocket to let them in. "That's all."

"Favor, huh?" Lisanna, who was standing with her boyfriend, elbowed him. "What sorta _favor_ would spark something like this? Hmm?"

"That is what I'm wondering."

Elfman frowned at them. "What are you implying?"

"Not that this isn't fun," Laxus grumbled, "but I gotta take a leak."

That was the only thing that the little boys understood and it made them all giggle. Mirajane only frowned at her husband though.

"Behave," she said as, after dropping what she was carrying, she moved to go take Pike off his grandfather's shoulders. "All of you. We have another week and a half together. Don't start fighting now."

Pike was most interested in all the sand that was everywhere. He'd played in sandboxes before, but this was his first time at a beach. On the walk there he'd seen the ocean and, man, it looked so big. And scary. Nerve-wracking.

Not for Nate though. He and Mace were far more concerned with the house as, just from the front of it, it was impressive. It had a huge front deck and looked bigger than either of the boys'. Considering Nate lived in a tiny apartment with his parents, brother, and dog while Mace lived in a tiny home with his father and mother (an old one at that which was previously owned by Mirajane, that had been practically ancient even then), the house was a mansion as far as they were concerned. It even had a second floor!

"Come on then," Ever sighed as she got the door open. "Let's- Hey! Don't you all run me over!"

Laxus was though, gonna run over all of them if he had to. He needed to get to a bathroom and fast.

"He's silly, huh?" Mirajane giggled to Pike who just watched in shock.

In his rush Laxus had dropped the dog's leash and, overjoyed by this, the doggy took to running in right behind all the others.

"Wow!" When he got in there, Nathan ran right through the front room to an open, connecting one. The entire back wall was glass, giving them the perfect view of the ocean beyond. "Look! Mommy!"

"I see," she giggled as he left his face pressed against the glass, Mace rushing to do the same. Ever had to grin too as Elfman got left lugging all the baggage the others had dropped outside into the house.

"So," Bickslow asked as he took to looking around, his wooden babies following Lisanna as she went to look around the place. "What's the room situation?"

"Elf and I get the biggest one," Ever said. "We already talked about that. You all remember that."

Her saying that stemmed mainly from the fact that they all knew if Laxus claimed pre-eminence, they would all give it to him and Mirajane. No matter how old they got, he'd always be the top in the Thunder Legion's hearts.

"Yeah," they heard a grumble from the slayer down the hall where he no doubt was coming out of the bathroom. Mirajane was the one that was forcing him to go along with that. "We know."

"Then you guys get to fight over the other bedrooms," she said. "Remember? Just make sure you leave one for Master."

"What?" Makarov glanced over at her with a frown. "You think that I can't fight for my own place?"

"There's a bedroom next to that bathroom I just got outta, Gramps," Laxus said as he came back into the room, looking much more relieved. Then again, he kind was. "You can have that bedroom. You said there were four bedrooms right, Ever? Then a den with a pullout couch Bickslow and Lisanna can share-"

"I do not understand," Bickslow growled, "how come me and Lissy automatically get-"

"Because you two are low on to the totem pole," Laxus grumbled. "You think you'd be used to it."

"Yeah, but Freed's only by himself," he argued. "So how come he don't-"

"Because I am me," Freed told him simply with a glare. "And you are you. Surely you have grasped that by now."

"And the boys can sleep in the living room. We bought them sleeping bags," Mirajane finished with a sigh. "Or in bed with their parents."

"I wanna sleep with Bickslow!" Mace was running back to them then, holding his arms above his head as he jumped at the seith.

"Me? You choose me? Huh?" Bickslow caught the five year old easily, lifting the giggling boy into his arms. Lisanna was finished inspecting the downstairs then and came back with the man's dolls who took to circling around him in excitement.

"Can we go to the beach now?" Nate was still in the other room, face muffled as he pressed it against the glass. "Mommy?"

"Not yet, Nate," Laxus answered. "We gotta get settled. Then I'll take you down to the water, huh?"

"And we have to go to the store," Ever said as, when Elfman finally got all the stuff in the house, she just pointed upwards, as if gesturing to the second floor.

"What?" the muscular man asked.

"What do you mean what? Take everyone's stuff upstairs," she said. "Other than Master's. He's down here."

Growling, Elfman said, "I ain't no lackey, woman! I-"

"We can help," his son, Mace, offered as Bickslow dropped him gently on the ground. Helping sounded great. To Nathan too, though that was more because he thought if they hurried things along, he could get to doing what he wanted.

"Store?" Bickslow complained with a frown. "Why do we gotta go to a store?"

"To get groceries, Bicks," Lisanna sighed. "And hey, the den's this way, so let's take our stuff in there, huh?"

"Maybe I don't wanna."

"Bickslow."

"Make me go to the store," he grumbled. "What do I look like? Huh?"

As they headed off down a hall, Mira only looked to Laxus. "Help Elf."

"Help him what?" He'd taken to glaring at the dog who was sniffing around the room, as if daring him to lift a leg. If he did, he'd be kicked right out and have to fend for himself out on the beach.

"Take the bags to the rooms, Lax. I mean it. Go."

"What are you going to do then?"

"Mmmm." She was still holding Pike and only snuggled the boy a bit. "Go pick out a bed for us."

It took a bit to get things all settled. It was decided that the women and Freed would head out to the store with the children to get snacks and food for the next few days. Nate didn't wanna go, but when he heard that Mira and his cousin were, well, it wasn't like he was going to get stuck with stinky Laxus.

Pike wasn't nearly as happy about it. He wanted to take a nap! A real one. And he was so whiny that Mirajane ended up just leaving him behind with the guys so he could get one.

"When we get back," she sighed as she laid him down in the room she and Laxus had picked out, "we're gonna go to the beach though. So rest up, huh?"

After that frightful journey on the train, the dog needed a nap too and easily snuggled up with him in the bed, which, with the other boy gone off with his mother, left Laxus with a free few hours there.

"Too bad," he grumbled to Bickslow as they settled out in the living room, Elfman milling around and the Master locked away in his room, "we don't have any beer yet."

"You can have a smoke if you want," the seith offered as he pulled his pack from his back pocket.

"Don't smoke that in here, nimrod," Laxus grumbled.

"Why not?"

"This ain't our place, yeah? Ever's friend is being nice enough to let us stay here. Don't-"

"You sure have turned into an adult, boss."

"It's called being matured."

"Whatever you want to call being no fun is up to you." Bickslow still lit up. "Besides, look at the coffee table. Cigarette tray right there. Shocked you can't smell it, boss, with your super nose."

"It is dragon senses, you moron."

"Same," he remarked, "thing.

"Is," came the remark, "not."

Blowing his smoke up, Bickslow only asked, "You want one?"

Snort. "I don't smoke girly little cigarettes, dipshit. I smoke like a man."

"You on about those disgusting cigars again?"

"I ain't on about nothin'."

"You sure sound like-"

"Hey!" And Elfman was in there. "Men smoke cigars. Laxus is right!"

"Hell yeah I am," the slayer grumbled. "Not that I needed your help in winnin'."

"Winning?" Bickslow laughed. "We wasn't arguing, boss. See? You turn everything into something. Something that you can go on about."

"I don't go on about things!"

The couch had an L-shape to it and, with Bickslow and Laxus sitting on the horizontal side of it, Elfman sat the other, knowing that they wouldn't want him too near them.

"Anyone checked on Master?" he asked Laxus who only shook his head.

"Says that he has to use the lacrima to get in touch with the guild," Laxus said with a shrug. "He left Erza in charge, you know."

"Yeah," Bickslow mumble. "Was a big driving force behind me wanting to go ahead and come with you guys."

"Then I'm sure he'll lay down for a bit," the man's grandson said with a shrug. "Gramps won't admit it, but he's probably too old to have come all this way. I didn't wanna bring him, but with both me and Mira gone to begin with, well… He just needs to be close to us."

"I," they heard someone say then from another room, "do not. And I resent the accusation."

"Great," Laxus grumbled as he heard his grandfather come into the room. "Today he chooses to put his hearing aid in. Just dandy."

"Dandy?" Bickslow mulled it over. "That's my new go to word."

"It don't sound too manly," Elfman grumbled.

"Sure it does. It's dandy!"

"Stop," Laxus groaned as Makarov, upon entering the living room, just went to take a seat in one of the recliners. "Seriously, don't even start."

"Dandy."

"Bickslow-"

"Dandy," his babies cried as they took to flying around the world. "Dandy."

Ugh. And Laxus thought he'd gotten _rid_ of his annoyances.

They returned, of course, all of them. His sisters-in-law, wife, nephew, and, of course, Nathan.

"Where's Pike?"

"He's nappin'," Laxus said as the boy came to him the second he got back to the house, climbing right up onto the couch to stare at his father. "So you let him sleep until it's time to go down to the beach."

"I wanna go _now_ ," Nathan insisted, staring at him. "Please?"

"Soon." He only patted him on the head. "Go help your mother and aunts put stuff away, huh? And have them bring me a beer. Mira! You hear that? Did you buy beer? Have someone bring me one!"

Lisanna, never one for putting groceries away (or laundry for that matter; her and Bickslow's place was just a mess), came into the living room before he'd even finished his sentence, one in hand.

She only went to plop down in Bickslow's lap, handing it off to him. Laxus looked on enviously.

He and Mira had never gotten that. That precious time without brats. Clearly, Bickslow and Lisanna were benefiting from it.

"You don't have to yell, Lax," Mira called back. "Freed's bringing you one."

He'd need more than one, but…it was a start.

"Mommy!" Nate still ran back into the kitchen, nearly running into Freed on the way. "If I wake up Pike, can we go to the beach now?"

"Let us put this stuff up, Nate," she sighed, not even glancing at him. "Then we can. I promise, by the time we go back home, you'll be sick of the beach."

"Not me," he insisted as Mace, who was trying diligently to help put stuff away though he was getting more in the way than anything, giggled. "I wanna stay forever."

Yeah, well, Pike, who'd woken up in the bedroom upstairs to find only the dog and unfamiliar surroundings, sure didn't. His cries were heard easily.

"I got him, demon," Laxus grumbled at the sound. Then he added, "Come on, boys. You guys come and I can get you into your trunks, huh?"

"Okay," Mace giggled, rushing to head up the stairs. Nate though wasn't having it.

"I'm not a baby! I can do it myself!"

"Just come on," Laxus grumbled as he bounded after them.

Sheesh. The first day was only halfway over and already he was counting down the ones until he could go home.

That's what he got for going on that stupid family vacation with the others though. If by vacation they meant hell and family they meant people he couldn't stand other than the demon and his boys (sometimes), then yes. It was turning out to be a splendid one.

"Don't be grumpy, dragon," Mira called after him. "Just because you got motion sick and all embarrassed over it."

"I was not either of those things!"

"Sure."

"I wasn't."

He wasn't. So there.

Oh, and the demon was officially off the list. Just him and his boys.

"Were too," Nate snickered as they met at the top of the stairs.

Pike. Laxus liked Pike. The others were just all detriments anyways.

* * *

 **I'm calling it. This time, when I tell you guys it'll only be five chapters, it seriously will. No way to stretch it. It was originally going to be a one-shot, but with all of them being involved, it would have been turned into a big mess. Better to split it up, I figure.**

 **Also, I've** _ **finally**_ **actually started writing on Mohawks and Manliness again. I didn't want to start this story until I finished that, but I figure with Dragon's Love being over anyways, it wouldn't hurt.**


	2. Chapter 2

Beach Retreat

Chapter 2

"Boy?"

"Hmmm?"

"When you said we were going to the beach," Makarov grumbled, "I didn't think you meant a private one!"

"It's connected to the property," Laxus said simply as everyone else ran ahead of them, out the backdoor, off the huge deck back there, and down to the beach only a hundred or so yards away. "You could see it from the house. What? Did you want to go somewhere with a bunch of other people?"

Makarov just stared up at him. "Why exactly did you think I was going to the beach? I could have stayed home to see all these women. What good are they going to do me?"

At the moment, none. Evergreen, almost immediately, was setting out on getting a tan as Lisanna and Mirajane, both very fair skinned and therefore knowing the dangers of a day at the beach, slathered all three of the little boys in sunscreen.

Nothing fun for Makarov at all.

"Mommy, hurry!" Nathan either. "I don't need this!"

"Yes, you do."

"No."

"Behave, brat," Laxus grumbled as he left Makarov to himself and rushed down to where they were standing. "'fore I spank ya."

Mace was standing perfectly still for his Aunt Lisanna, though his eyes were trained over on the ocean. "Just take it, Nate," he said. "Then we can go play."

"Bickslow," Lisanna called out when, finally, she and her sister let the older boys go and Mirajane got to work on getting Pike coated in the stuff. "Come here. Let me put sunscreen on you."

The man, at the moment, was scouring the beach for crabs and did not have time for such foolery.

"No."

"Bickslow-"

"I don't need it."

"I'm not peeling your sunburn again for you," she warned. "So get over here."

"I don't wanna!"

"Bickslow, just go," Freed huffed as he went to sit with Evergreen. "You're being childish."

"Why," Ever asked as she settled into a lounge chair she'd had Elfman lug out there, "could you not put on your own sunscreen?"

"Because," he whispered to them as he passed, "then I wouldn't get Lissy to rub all over my body. I just gotta resist a little and then, bam! She not only does the tedious task for me, I also get a rubdown beforehand."

"Just remember there are children around," Freed sighed as Ever made a face.

Laxus though was far more concerned with getting Mira all lathered up though.

"You need me to put some sun tan lotion or something on you, demon?" he asked, trying to keep his tone suggestive. It was hard, considering they were in the presence of their three year old who, at the moment, was staring anxiously over at the water, fearing for his life.

"What, Lax?" Mira hardly glanced up at him from where she was on the ground, on her knees, trying to get Pike beach ready. "Did you say something?"

Frowning, he only took to looking at the boy as well. "Nothin'. Just… Hey. Pike. This is your first time to the beach, huh? You want me to go take you down to the water? Or Mommy?"

At her name (or at least what he called her), the toddler looked back at his mother. She was dressed in a bikini and it reminded him of the few times he'd gone to the pool up at the guild. Mirajane usually told him he was too little for it. Once though, his Aunt Ever and Uncle Elf had gotten a little plastic pool in their backyard for him and the other two boys to play in. That was ruined though by the doggy deciding for whatever reason that it was _his_ pool and that he was going to go lay down in it and get it all dirty and nasty.

The thought alone made the boy glance around for the dog, placing him out on the beach, chasing around Bickslow's babies as they cried for help, their father and mother far too interested in rubbing one another with lotion to care.

"Mommy," Pike finally said to which Laxus grunted before trying to walk off.

"Wait, Lax," Mira was quick to call as she finished up with Pike and got to her feet. "You can go with us, huh? Here, carry the beach bag down to the sand and set out some towels. Okay? And here, Pike, you want me to carry you?"

When he held out his arms, his mommy easily lifted him into them, snuggling him while she was at it. He just tried to burrow his head in her chest and hide though.

"Pike," Mira complained though Laxus only snickered.

"Boy's got the right idea."

"Beheave," she huffed. "And did anyone explain the rules to Mace and Nathan?"

"Yes," Laxus growled. "I think you did. Remember? Oh, a _thousand times_?"

"I just," Mirajane said as she watched where they were out in the water with Elfman, who was just as excitedly playing with them, "know how fast things can go wrong."

"Mira, we're all here. They're fine."

"And that's fine," she insisted. "But they're not allowed to get in the water without one of us. That's not a stupid rule, Laxus."

"I didn't say it was. Just…unnecessary."

"Do I need to go over how many drowning happen a year?"

"Ugh. No. I don't care anyways. They won't drown."

"No one thinks their kid will." Then she paused. "I mean, unless they're trying to drown them or-"

"Demon, I get it, alright? You made a rule and I'm gonna make them follow it. Alright?"

Pike had no problem with that rule. None at all. Leaving his head pressed against his mother's chest, he left his arms clinging to her, fearful as, once they had the towels set out, she and his daddy walked him over to where the water was just barely breaching the surface of the sand.

"Here, baby, let go," Mirajane said, bending down then to set him back down on the ground. He wouldn't though.

"Mommy-"

"Mira, if he don't like it-"

"Shush, Lax." She only got back down on her knees again with the boy, gently removing his arms from around her. "There. You're okay. Look down, Pike. No, not at me. At the ground. See? Look, baby. It's just water."

Laxus watched as the boy, tentatively, reached down to pat at the wet stand. When the water came rushing back towards land, only the white foam leftover got to where they were standing.

It was still to much for Pike, the toddler jerking his hand back in surprise. Mirajane just giggled though.

"Buddy, it's just water," Laxus said before slowly walking further out into it. "See? Come on. You can come to me."

It felt weird beneath his feet. The whole thing did. Pike wasn't sure if he liked it. The sand then the wet sand and now water?

"Go to Daddy," Mira said, pushing him gently. Pike glanced at her before, very carefully, making the short trek (it honestly was only a foot or two), over to the man.

Then the water had to come in, scare him, and make the toddler fall down crying.

It was just all too much! He wanted to go home to his own bed with his own blankies where no stupid beach could ever hurt him!

"Pike's such a baby," Nathan complained from over where he and his cousin were taking turns splashing the other boy's father from all angles.

"Real men know how to cry!" Elfman assured him. "And stop splashing me!"

"Awe, poor Pike," Lisanna said from over where she and Bickslow were trying to chase down the dog and get him to stop bothering the babies (honestly, he was about out of breath anyways). "Look, Bicks."

"I can hear 'im," he assured her. "And I'll worry about him when the damn mutt leaves my own babies alone!"

"Papa," they all cried. "Papa."

Pike though was crying for the exact opposite. He just wanted his mother to take him home.

When would they be going back there? That was a good place. A safe place. Where craziness like water and sand surrounding you just didn't happen! What was wrong with just staying in safe places where sanity ruled the day and freaking _water_ was just allowed to roam free?

Huh?

"What's wrong then, boy?" Makarov was over to them then, coming to stare down at his grandson. Mirajane had only taken him back to the beach towel to sit down and take a break from the ocean for a bit. "Hmmm?"

"He's afraid of the water, Master," Mirajane said, glancing up at the man. "Pike's not really big on things he doesn't understand."

Laxus sighed as he dug through that bag that Mirajane had brought out there, pulling out a plastic shovel and a pail.

"Here you go, buddy," he said, moving to hand him the bucket and shovel. "You just play up here, huh? In the sand? You wanna do that? Then, if you get ready again, Daddy will take you out into the water. Okay?"

Pike only sniffled. "Sand?"

"Mmmhmm." Mirajane gently pried him off her before setting him down next to the towel. "Here. You can just play with sand. Daddy, will you build sandcastles with him?"

"I gotta get a beer first."

"Laxus." That got him a glare for some reason. Ugh.

"I will play with you, Pike," the boy's great-grandfather assured as, with what seemed like a lot of pain, he managed to sit down in the sand. Laxus made a face before heading back up to the house to get him a foldout chair as well as go fill the cooler with some drinks for the kids and some beers for him (maybe the others too). How had they forgotten that?

"Ugh," Ever, clad in a green bikini, groaned from where she was trying to tan, sunglasses replacing her usual ones. "Why did we bring children again? If they're not crying they're laughing far too loudly."

"Hmmm." Freed only hummed, sitting there in the sand, watching Elfman play with the boys in disinterest. "Had you not all insisted on popping them out, we wouldn't have that problem."

Meh. He had a point.

"You know, Lissy," Bickslow said as, once they finally got all the babies rounded up and the dog went off somewhere to catch his breath (and hopefully not die) the two went back to looking for those crabs he was searching for before. "This place has me thinking."

"About?"

"Mystery. Intrigue. Deception."

"You read the back of one of those books in the study, didn't you?"

He nodded. "It's got me to realize that I need to read more. You know that I couldn't even figure out some of those words in that summery?"

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Laxus was back then, lugging the ice chest along behind him.

"You know," he said as he watched Pike slowly fill up the bucket. "I think I need to take the second pail and get some water. You need a bit of it to make good sandcastles."

Mirajane was laying out then, on her towel, and only said, "Hand me my sunglasses, dragon. Out of the bag."

Oh, he did. And, since her eyes were closed, he also bopped his grandfather in the head when he saw his gaze linger a bit too long on his demon.

Damn Gramps.

Eventually, Nate and Mace grew bored of the ocean (sorta) and came over to Laxus and Mirajane for drinks and their turn with the bucket and shovel.

"I think I brought some more," Mira told them as Laxus only frowned at them. "Have whoever's driest to go inside with you and get them. I think your mom, Mace, is-"

"Not moving," she sang from over where she was. "So don't ask me anything!"

"Then, Lax, go get them. I think they're in the kitchen with the other stuff I bought at the store."

"Why do I always gotta go get shit?" he grumbled once he was far enough away that his demon didn't overhear. "Huh?"

Nate only plopped down, juice box in hand, watching as Pike would, continually, fill up the bucket before dumping it out and starting again.

"Mommy, he's not playing right."

"Let him play however he wants, Nate," she sighed as she shut her eyes again. "Daddy's getting you your own bucket to play with."

"Everyone plays differently, boy," Makarov told him though Nate just didn't believe that.

"Hey. Pssst." Bickslow, from not far off, was gesturing to the boys. "C'mere for a second. You two."

Lisanna was off at that point, with her brother and Bickslow's dolls, sitting where the water came in, talking, which left the seith up to his dastardly deeds.

And also in need of a partner in crime.

Err, partners, as it were.

After explaining the situation to the two little boys, they giggled, nodding their blonde and brown heads in agreement, before setting off to do as asked of them.

"Hi, Mommy."

"Hi, Aunt Ever."

Freed was gone off somewhere when they got over to the woman and she only stared at them wearily from behind her sunglasses.

"Ask your father for whatever you want, Mace," she told him simply. "Or someone else. I'm busy."

She usually was.

"No, Aunt Ever," Nate insisted. "We want you."

"Want me for what?" she asked with a frown.

"Just to tell you that we love you," Mace told her with a grin. "Because we do."

Nathan nodded. "A lot."

"A whole lot."

"A big lot!"

"Mace, that's not a word."

"Big is a word."

"Yeah, but it don't go with-"

"Yes, it does."

"No, it doesn't."

"Yes, it does."

"No."

"Yes."

"No, it doesn't!"

"Yes, it does!"

Ever only blinked, eyes still on them, before slowly laying back down. Shutting her eyes once more, she didn't even glance behind her, didn't even have to, as she said, "Bickslow, if you drop that damn crab on me, I'll turn you, your girlfriend, and everyone else to stone just for good measure."

"Awe, Ever. How'd you know I was-"

"And don't bother me anymore, boys," she warned before throwing down her usual threat. "Unless you wanna become statues, that is."

Dejected, they only watched as Bickslow, who was holding the crab by a claw, made a wrong move with it and ended up with his finger in its pinchers. That made the whole thing worth it for them as the seith ran around then, howling in pain.

Laxus was glad he got back just in time to see that. It really was something worth seeing.

"That," he told Mirajane as he came over to her, a stack of plastic buckets with shovels in the top of one held in his hands, "made this whole dang trip worth it."

"Mmmm," she sighed as she sat up and removed her sunglasses, just to watch as Elfman and Lisanna tried to help Bickslow calm down and get the thing off him. "Still waiting on my moment."

"Daddy!" Nate and Mace were back then, the former holding out his arms. "All for me?"

"Yep." He handed over the buckets to them. "So you two leave Pike alone, alright?"

"Okay," Mace said as Nate nodded. Now that they had their own stuff to play with, they had no need for the toddler. Freed, who had gone off to walk down the beach some and look around, had come rushing back at the sound of the seith's yelling. When he saw what was wrong, he only rolled his eyes before heading over to where the Master and Mira were, getting there about the same time Laxus was sending the older two boys off to play.

"Ah," he said as the sight of them with their buckets and pails. "I take it you heard then?"

"Heard what?" Nate asked, glancing up at him as the boy's father just went to take a seat next to his demon. "Freed?"

Grinning down at them, if only slightly, he said, "About the treasure, of course."

"Treasure?" Mace shook his head. "What treasure?"

"Surely you know," the letter mage insisted. "About the pirate ship that crashed here? And the captain that, in his final moments, buried his treasure somewhere on this beach? I took it that was why you had buckets and shovels."

Nate blinked. Then he took off running.

"Come on, Mace. Start digging!"

"Great," Mirajane remarked as Freed joined them, slowly lowering her sunglasses over her eyes. "That'll keep them busy for hours."

"Or keep them up all night when I tell them about how the pirate's ghost is gonna get 'em tonight for messin' with his stuff," Laxus offered.

"Considering you're not doing that," Mira ordered as she laid back down, "I don't think we have to worry about it."

Nodding over at Bickslow, Freed asked, "Prank gone wrong?"

"Horribly," Makarov remarked, though he was only looking down at Pike from the chair Laxus brought him, watching the boy, once more, dump out his bucket before beginning to refill it. "Say, did the two of you know then? That this beach was private?"

"Oh, Gramps, shut up about it," Laxus grumbled from the other side of Mirajane. Freed, who was at his other side, only shrugged.

"What of it?"

"Yeah, Master," Mira agreed as she closed her eyes again. "I prefer it. I don't have to worry about someone walking off with one of the kids."

Freed nodded. "Ever mentioned it and I didn't think it was worth caring about either way."

"He's just mad that he don't have any young women to gawk at," Laxus grumbled as, reaching over Mirajane, he gently ticked Pike, making the boy giggle. "Old perv."

"That is not why!"

Mira, used to the man's antics, only hummed. And Freed shrugged.

That was rarely a problem for either of them.

"Besides, Gramps," Laxus grumbled. "You do know that all of us are married, right? And whatever the hell Bickslow and Lisanna are."

At the moment? Very panicked over his finger.

"Dating," Mira sighed. "They're dating."

"For this long?"

"Some people take things slow, dragon. Not just sleep with the babysitter."

"You shut it." She got poked that time. "Demon."

"I remind you," Freed offered, "that I am very much so single."

"Oh, Freed, he wasn't forgetting you," Mirajane assured him. "Just…well… You don't really date much as it is, so-"

"But he should still be free to look at all the women he wants," Makarov insisted.

"Believe me," Laxus sighed as the man blushed and looked off. "He doesn't want."

"If it's that big of a deal, Master," Mira started. "I'm sure someone will go with you to a public part of the beach. I would, but you probably wouldn't like that much at all."

"I just like going to meet people. To talk to them. Not what either of you are insinuating."

"Uh-huh."

"I don't."

"I suppose tomorrow we can go to the public beach," Freed offered when Laxus elbowed him. Really, the thought was not a fun one for him. At all. "If you wish, Master."

"Perhaps," he agreed softly, no doubt embarrassed then by all of their assumptions. "We will see."

"Freed and Gramps," Laxus remarked as Pike dumped over another bucket of sand. "Out scoping the coast for women. I almost wanna go to see this."

That made him get elbowed, though it was from his demon and it was actually a pinch to the leg.

"I said almost." He grinned down at her, regardless of the fact she had her eyes shut. "I got my view right here."

And, more importantly, it was only his view. Not out there with all the others who just thought they could freely view the greatness that was Laxus Dreyar's wife. Because they couldn't. She was his.

Freed only looked off, over at where he spotted Mace and Nathan, diligently staying away from the water and within the parameters of where they were allowed to be, digging like crazy through the sand. Grinning, he decided that later he'd draw them up a pretend map to play with as well.

Again, Pike dumped out his bucket. "Sand. Daddy, sand!"

"I see, buddy." The man smiled over at him. "You ready to try the water again?"

"No."

"Really? Pike, I promise you, nothing bad will happen. Do you think that I would ever let you get hurt? Huh?"

Maybe. He wasn't sure. Back home? Where everything was safe and familiar? Of course not. But in this scary new portion of the world that he was introduced to, anything could happen. Look at poor Uncle Bickslow! Running around with his finger all wonky. Did that happen back home, in the apartment, where they could all play with blocks and not be attacked by nature? No. It couldn't.

"I wouldn't, buddy," Laxus insisted. "And you know that."

"Mmmm, Lax," Mira sighed. "Maybe we can try the water again tomorrow, huh? I'm sure he'll be more receptive then."

Laxus wasn't. He knew Pike. New things were not, well, his thing. And the beach wasn't only new. It was completely unknown. It could take forever to get him prepared to brave it again.

Which probably was a good thing. The less adventurous the boy was, the less chance he had of getting hurt.

Unlike the other one. Sigh. Laxus only looked over at where he was ecstatically digging away, hoping to find that loot Freed had told him about.

The sight alone made him smile. So the trip wasn't all bad after all.

"Boss? Did you know that crabs are horrible creatures with no heart and no sense of humor?"

Then Bickslow and Lisanna had to come over to ruin it.

"Hey, Pike," the woman said as she bent down to look at him. Laxus saw the Master take stock of her, but as usual, Lisanna paled in comparison to the other women around her.

Except to Bickslow, but Laxus wasn't so sure that his screwy eyes weren't the cause of that.

"What'cha doin'?" Lisanna grinned as he only looked up at her before dumping out his bucket again.

"It's sand," he explained before going back to filling the bucket. "Aunt Lissy."

"Awe."

"Bickslow," Laxus grumbled as he frowned at the standing man and his wounded finger. "Why didn't you just possess the crab, huh?"

"Eh?"

"And then control it to… What were you doing?"

"I's gonna drop it on Ever. Down her bikini top."

Freed shook his head. "What a waste."

"I know! I found a perfectly good crab and-"

"I meant of brains."

Lisanna snickered. "What brains?"

"Hey!"

"You could have," Laxus interjected, "just controlled the crab to crawl over there and do whatever to her. I mean, dude, that's literally your magic. What the hell's wrong with you?"

"Well… I don't know!"

"Once again," Freed chuckled. "Laxus has proven himself to be not only an expert at his own magic, but others' as well."

Mirajane though only sat up though, glaring at the seith. "No one," she hissed at them all, "is putting anything down anyone's bikini top. Or bottom for that matter. Understand?"

"Sheesh, Mrs. Boss," he grumbled. "You don't gotta mother us all too. I'm not a kid."

"I'm not mothering you. If I catch you doing that to Ever though, you're not going to be allowed back out here with us. Understand?"

"You're mothering me. Everyone see this, right? She's trying to mother me!"

Lisanna nodded as she grinned over at Mira. "Yeah, sis. Can you not turn that stuff off now or what?"

"I'm not-"

"You kinda are, demon," Laxus said as Freed only nodded.

Makarov though snickered. "It sounded like a grand old joke to me, boy."

"Thank you, Master," Bickslow said with a nod. "I guess some people are just too much of mothers to appreciate it."

Mira only glared at him before looking at the others. "I am not."

"It's okay," Lisanna told her with a shrug. "I mean, you are sort of a mother."

"Yeah, but I'm not _just_ a mother."

"No one said you were," Laxus assured her. "Though this was kinda telling…"

"Laxus!"

"I'm kidding."

"I'm not," she told them all. "Seriously. Just… Go away, Bickslow. Go play or something."

"Okay, _Mom_."

"Stop it!" Then, with a huff, Mirajane laid back down and shut her eyes.

She wasn't mothering them. Any of them. Other than her babies. And sometimes Mace. That was all.

Gosh, why did she even have to explain that?


	3. Chapter 3

Beach Retreat

Chapter 3

"You gotta mash it, Pike," Laxus told the little boy as he handed him some raw hamburger meat. "Yes, like- No, don't eat it!"

"Laxus," Mira sighed from over where she was cutting up potatoes to fry them. "He can help with something else. Not that. It's too high a chance he will get a bite."

"Yeah, I've come to realize that."

At the moment, the three of them were in the kitchen of the beach house, Mirajane working on the fried potatoes while Laxus and Pike were supposed to be getting some burger patties ready to grill.

The latter wasn't going so great. Mainly because Pike just wasn't much help. With anything. He did, however, insist on helping. He seemed to not want to let Mirajane or Laxus out of his sight, still a little spooked from his afternoon out at the beach.

In fact, his brother and cousin were still out there playing, Freed and Elfman with them. Bickslow and Lisanna had taken off with their little dolls, claiming that they were going out for the evening. Bickslow had mumbled something to her about finding fireworks and, well, with a quest on hand, they'd probably wind up lost and not even make it home till the next day.

Evergreen had gone off as well, though it was just up to her room, claming that so much sun had given her a headache. Then Master was milling around somewhere. Mira and Laxus weren't too certain where he was. The dog was around though, in the kitchen, resting on the floor, as he always was when there was food to be made.

"Daddy," Pike complained as the man took the ground beef back from him, squished it into a patty and put it on a waiting plate before lifting him up and taking him over to the sink to wash his hands.

"You're not ready to help with raw meat, buddy. Daddy's sorry." Laxus even gave him a kiss. It was something that, when he first began caring for Nathan all those years ago, would never happen, but slowly had become the norm for him and his boys. He loved them. And he could openly admit that. Nothing would ever stop him from doing it either. "Here. You go play with the doggy, huh? And let Daddy finish this up. Then we'll go out and grill 'em, okay?"

Just so long as he was able to keep both of them in his sights, Pike was fine.

This was broken up later as Mira stayed in to fix the potatoes and Laxus took Pike outside with him. He whined a bit, but Laxus really wanted to show him how great he was at grilling burgers, so there was no other way.

"At the risk of sounding like your Uncle Elf," Laxus said once he had the thing going, quickly filling the air with the scent of charcoal and grilling meat, "this is a real man's thing. It's somethin' you gotta learn, buddy."

Mmmm…maybe. But not that day. No. Pike just went to sit at the picnic table and color in the coloring book Laxus had brought out there for him. The sun was starting to set and to anyone else, the view of the ocean with the sun going down on it would be beautiful. To the three-year-old, all it meant was that day one was complete. He hoped there wouldn't be a second one. Because that dang water was sneaky. It clearly had Mommy, Daddy, and bubba on its side. No telling what else it had up its sleeve. Err, wave.

Whatever.

The point was that it was coming for him. Pike just knew it.

"Daddy?"

"What, buddy?" After getting the burgers on, he went to take a seat next to the boy on the picnic table. Pike was hardly tall enough to even see over the top of it, so Laxus easily shifted him to his lap.

"Go home?"

"Not for a bit, buddy." Laxus gave his head a kiss. "Don't worry. I know today was scary. Daddy'll make sure tomorrow isn't so bad."

That night wasn't too bad, anyways. Eventually Laxus called down to the beach to the others that the burgers were all ready about the time that Mirajane came out of the house with a bowl full of fried potatoes, already having called for Makarov and Ever to come if they were eating.

"Doggy," Pike giggled as he came to rest beneath the bench and wait for scraps from the three little boys. "Nate."

His brother was back then, carrying one of the buckets in his arms, as if it were slightly heavy. Their Uncle Elf had all the other, empty ones, along with the shovels, and went to set them somewhere on the deck as Mace and Nate rushed to join Pike.

"Here, bubba." Nate sat right next to his brother as Mace only sat on the other side of the table, resting his head against it as he stared at them. "We bought you seashells. Since you're too much of a baby to be down there yourself."

"Nate," Laxus warned, but Pike was enthralled. Not by his words, of course, but rather what he found in the bucket.

They were so pretty! And there were so many! There were some rocks in there too, but they were mostly ones that looked really cool and Mace or Nate thought the boy would like. Pike liked looking at colors and stuff. He also liked to try to eat rocks though, so Freed had warned them to watch him if they gave him those seashells.

"Nate," Pike complained as the boy took one of them from him as he started to lick it. "Mine!"

"You can't eat it," Mace giggled. "You just look at it."

Mirajane went to tap both of them gently on the heads before getting to work on a plate for the three children. Elfman went in for a bit, claiming he'd be back to eat after he washed up, and Freed only went to sit with the children.

"It was a rather disappointing day, huh?" he remarked to Mace who was still laying with his head down. Sighing, the boy only shrugged.

"We couldn't find the treasure," he announced to all the others. "Anywhere."

"But you found Pike all these fun seashells," Mira said as she grinned over at them. "Isn't that great, dragon?"

"I ain't takin' all those home with us."

"Laxus-"

"I'm not."

There was no need to. If he could just get away from bubba, Pike would have a chance to eat most of them.

Nate had a good visual on him though and didn't seem to be letting him get away with it for the time being.

"Burgers?" Ever asked in what sounded like disgust when she finally made it down the stairs. "Great."

Laxus usually would have snapped at her, but as it was, she was the only reason they were there. She literally was the only one allowed to complain about the trip.

"It is great," Mirajane agreed, either not catching the sarcasm or ignoring it. "Dragon makes good burgers."

They let the kids and Makarov, when he got there, sit at the table, Mira taking up a seat there as well, to help Pike from getting too messy. Since he wasn't going to be in the water anymore, they'd long taken him out of his trunks and put him back into clothes. No need to get those dirty.

Laxus, Freed, Evergreen, and Elfman sat around in the chairs on the deck, the first three sitting in a circle and mumbling softly, as not to be overheard. Elfman was nearly certain that Ever was complaining about him or something, but only sat with his chair at the end of the picnic table, pretending to be oblivious. Mace kept wanting to talk about that dang 'treasure' so he got stuck listening to it.

Real man could suffer for their children!

It wasn't until dinner was nearing it's completion and Mira started explaining to Nate and Mace about how they both needed to go shower off and get dressed for bed, when the conversation about where everyone was sleeping came up again.

Or, rather, Mirajane had a thought come to her about the whole thing and began, in true fashion, to worry.

"Are you sure that you wanna sleep downstairs, Nate?" she asked. "I don't know when your aunt and uncle will be back and everyone else is upstairs. I don't-"

"I'll be downstairs, you know," Makarov complained. "They'll be fine."

"What are you doin' over there, demon?" Laxus grumbled from where he was with his bodyguards. "Huh? Causing me trouble?"

"No," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I just… What if someone broke in downstairs? And got the boys? I don't-"

"With a man like me around?" Elfman held up an arm and flexed, making Mace and Nate laugh. Pike just stared up at his mother though. "No way!"

"While I don't agree with that at all," Ever began, "he is sorta right."

"Just sorta?" Elfman dropped his arm, frowning over at her. "I'm completely right!"

"Yes, Mira," Freed insisted, glancing over there. "With all of us here, who could possibly-"

"With all of us upstairs, you mean."

"Demon," Laxus groaned.

"No." She shook her head. "I don't like it. I'll just sleep downstairs on the couch in the living room with them-"

"No!" Nate wasn't usually one to reject time with the woman, but it wasn't fair! He and Mace were gonna get to sleep in the living room all alone and stay up all nigh talking (they were only six and five, so that really just meant till nine) because they were grown. They were big boys. Literally. And Pike would be there too, but he was just a baby, so Nate wasn't too concerned with that. Just Mira not messing up his fun night. "You can't!"

"Nathan," Laxus sighed as she only blinked down at the boy in surprise. He was even glaring at her. Sorta. "You don't yell at her. You know that. Say sorry."

"No."

"Now."

"It's okay," Mira whispered. "I just want to keep you safe, Nathan. That's all."

Pike was between them as well as that bucket of seashells, but Nathan just shoved the bucket to the ground, causing the shells to spill and Pike to cry. The three year old didn't have long to worry about that though as, just as quickly, Nate was trying to shove him down too.

"Hey," Mira said as Nathan climbed over his brother to get to her. "Nathan-"

"I'm sorry," he told her as he tried to get into her lap. He was starting to get too old for that though. "I didn't mean to make you-"

"Nate, you just knocked over Pike's shells," Mirajane said as Laxus, with a groan, got to is feet before coming over. Ignoring the sobbing three-year-old, he only moved to snatch Nathan from Mirajane.

"Hey-"

"I warned you," the man grumbled simply as he hauled the boy off inside. "You've been bad all day"

"Laxus," Mira called after him. "Don't you spank- Pike, just give me a-"

He couldn't. Nathan had ruined his shells! And climbed over him. And bonked him in the head a bit when he was doing so. He wanted her to hold him and make it all better.

Mace was jumping up then as well as Elfman to help clean up the spilled shells for the little boy, though it did nothing to stop his sobbing. Mira had long changed back into regular clothes and he only buried his face in her shirt, having a good cry. Again. He was going through a phase where he could do it at least once a day. They were riding on far over that amount that day and, well, it was probably time for him to just go to bed.

"Pike." Laxus was back then. "Knock it off. You're fine. You're not a baby."

Mirajane glared over at him as the Master only groaned, standing as well, before going to take his great-grandson from his mother as the boy's father only came back out onto the deck, a scowl on his face.

"Where's Nathan?" she asked as Makarov quickly went to sit back down, Pike wrapped around him then. "Lax?"

"What do you mean where is he? He's inside. If he can't behave out here-"

"Laxus."

"No."

"He just got over excited. That's all."

"I don't care." Going to reclaim his spot with the very quiet Thunder Legion (minus Bickslow), Laxus didn't even look at her again. "The conversation is over. All of them are. So just eat your dinner and be quiet."

"Boy," Ever mumbled. "It didn't take long for this vacation to go south."

Not for Mace. After he and his father got all the shells scooped up, he readily hopped back to his feet and carried the pail over to where Makarov had the still whining toddler in his lap.

"Here, Pike," the boy said, setting the pail down on the bench next to them. "I got 'em all for you. Some got broke, but they still look real nice."

The little boy only sniffled before leaning away from his grandfather to peek into the bucket. Then, with a giggle, he reached out and patted his cousin on the head who giggled in return.

That calmed things down a little, but Mira and Laxus were both clearly done with one another for the night. They wouldn't look or speak to each other again. And, when Mirajane got up after ten minutes to undermine him and bring Nathan what was left of his dinner, the man ignored it, as if it didn't happen.

The only one that he made up with, in fact, was Pike, who, when he was finished eating came to bring the man some of his favorite shells and rocks to look at.

"Daddy." He climbed right up into his lap, nearly knocking Laxus' plate down. "See?"

"I see, bubba." Laxus felt a bit bad after snapping at the child for crying earlier and only leaned down to snuggle him. "They're really cool."

"P'etty."

"Pike, men don't say pretty," Elfman grumbled from over at the plate of burger patties where he was making another. "They say anything other than pretty."

Mace only giggled from where he was at the table, just picking at the remnants of his dinner. "I think they're pretty, Pike."

Nuzzling up to his father, the white hair child only moved to drop all of them into his father's open palms before shutting his eyes. Now that spending any real time with the demon was out considering they were not on speaking terms any longer, Laxus just asked, "You wanna sleep downstairs with your bubba and Mace? Or you wanna come to bed with me? Huh?"

Through a big yawn and bleary eyes, the boy only said, "G'amps."

"Gramps?" Laxus grumbled, glancing over at the man before frowning back down at his son. "What about him?"

"S'eep with G'amps."

"What? No. Pike-"

"He can sleep in my bed," Makarov offered up. "He-"

"No."

"Yes," Pike decided, tilting his head back to stare up at the man. "Daddy."

The sound of the backdoor opening again revealed Mirajane who was coming to tell Mace he needed to go grab a shower if he was finished with his dinner.

"No," Laxus was repeating about the same time. "You can't sleep in his bed."

"Whose bed?" Mira caught herself after she said that, remembering that she and Laxus weren't speaking, adding onto the end, "Freed?"

"Hmmm?" He was starting to feel awkward about then, still in his swimsuit, and was considering his plans for the rest of the night. With Bickslow out until possibly the next day and Laxus in a bad mood, he was left, really, with Ever who, per usual, didn't seem much up for fun. "Oh. Uh…Master. Pike wishes to sleep with Master and-"

"And he can," Makarov repeated as Mira only smiled over at him. "So stop arguing, Laxus. It's not every day that I get to spend so much time with him. Come here, Pike."

Done with his father and his lousy attitude, Pike snatched all his shells and rocks back before rushing back to his great-grandfather. He should have never left him, he figured.

"When you were a boy, Laxus," Makarov began as the man in question just groaned and looked off. "You used to _beg_ to spend the night with me. And it would annoy Ivan so much, that you were so whiny about it, that he would just give in. I remember-"

"Shut up, Gramps." The day just wasn't going Laxus' way. Or at least the night wasn't. Shoving out of his chair, he just headed into the house, nearly running into Mace as the boy rushed in to get that shower taken care of. "Just shut up."

Inside, Laxus just went up to the room he and Mira were sharing and went to lay down. His night was done. He'd been conned into that trip by Mirajane, went to it just to make her happy, and now she was going to act that way towards him? Whatever. She could sleep on that dang couch. He didn't care. At all.

The night was over quickly from there for the others. Mira got all the boys bathed and into their nightclothes before, reluctantly, letting Mace and Nate set up shop in the living room. There was a knotted feeling in her stomach still about the whole thing, but it was still early at that point and everyone was milling around.

Except the Master and Pike. The little boy was practically asleep as she was bathing him and was out cold by the time she had him in his jammies. So after getting one of his stuffed animals for him to snuggle with, she went and dropped him off in Makarov's room, the man retiring to it not soon after.

Freed went into the study, seeing as it was unoccupied with the seith and Lisanna being out, and glanced through the novels and other reading material in it. There was another room along with the four bedroom upstairs, in the back of the long hallway, that served as a game room, with a billiards table and mostly liquor up there and, after cleaning up the mess from dinner, Mirajane and Elfman went to play a game.

"I think you were a bit tough on Laxus," her brother said as they set up the balls. "He was talking before we left to Ever about how happy he was that the two of you were gonna get some time alone on this trip."

"You taking up for Laxus?" Mira snorted as she shook her head at him. "I guess I should just go forgive him, huh? Since the apocalypse is upon us?"

Shaking his own head, Elfman just said, "Men like time with their ladies."

"Thanks, Elf. No, really."

"I just think," he mumbled, "that you're a bit much sometimes. The boys are fine downstairs. You worry too much."

Instead of arguing with her brother, Mira was able to hold her tongue before saying, "Let's just play pool, alright? It's over now anyways. He won. He's just going to be sore about it."

They stayed up there for awhile until Elfman heard Ever, who'd gone out to be by herself on the beach, head to bed at which time he followed.

Because that didn't spell disaster…

Freed was still up, in the study, but Mira didn't disturb him. Only checked in on Master and Pike first, who were knocked out, and then Nate and Mace who fell asleep atop their sleeping bags, having been playing with some of the former's toy cars when they conked out. The dog was in there with them, curled up between the two boys and, well, Mira decided to just give in and go to bed.

Laxus, apparently, had woken up at some point and was just laying there, on his back, staring blankly up at the ceiling.

He didn't glance at her as she entered.

Mira undressed in the dark before, slowly, going to get in bed. A problem popped up that they had anticipated before when they weren't fighting.

The bed was smaller than theirs. Much. Which meant, unfortunately, that the two of them couldn't just pretend to be oblivious to one another.

"Stop look at me."

"I'm not."

"Yes," Laxus grumbled, not moving an inch to accommodate her as he continued to lay on his back, "you are."

"You know that I sleep facing this way."

"So?"

"Laxus-"

"Just stop looking-"

"I'm going to the couch." She pushed up then. "Or the study. Or even to sleep in Freed's bed. I don't care. But I'm not staying in here with you when you're-"

"Why," he grumbled as he reached out to grab her arm, "would you even bring him up?"

To make him jealous. The only other guys in the house at the moment were her brother and grandfather-in-law. Freed, while unlikely, wasn't improbable.

Pulling away, Mirajane fell back into the bed. "Why does it matter? He's the only one with some free space in bed."

Laxus just glared at her. "Yeah, well, he's gonna keep that space."

With a huff, she settled out once more, still on her side, facing him. "Whatever, Laxus."

"Maybe I'll just go get in bed with Ever. Or Lisanna. You like that suggestion?"

"I don't care. You know why?" She gave him a blank stare. "Because I know nothing would happen. They're practically your sisters. In fact, they both technically are now. So go. Have fun."

Grumbling, he shifted then, to give her his back. "Just shut up, demon. Go to bed."

Oh, she wanted to. Only it was easier said than done. For some reason, she just couldn't drift off. And, when she heard Freed head up the stairs and into his room, she knew why.

Her babies were all alone downstairs.

With Master, fine, but basically alone.

She tossed and turned for over two hours, keeping Laxus up or waking him up the entire time. Finally he couldn't help the growl that escaped his lips.

"Damn it, Mira, what is wrong with you?"

"I just," she huffed as she buried her head in a pillow, "can't sleep."

"Then turn on a lamp and read a book or something. Count sheep. Something. Because this shifting and brushing up against me ain't working."

"I'm just worried about the boys."

"Demon," he groaned as he turned to face her. "What don't you get about us all being able to sense magic power? Huh? We'd know if someone was-"

"It doesn't have to be someone with magic," she pointed out. "It could be robbers or kidnappers or anything else."

Staring at her, he asked simply, "Is it going to be this way for the rest of the week? Because if it is, hell, I'll go share a bed with Freed."

She turned her head just to glare at him. "I'd feel better if Bickslow and Lisanna were home and down there."

Groaning, he started to get up.

"What are you-"

"Getting in bed with Freed."

"Laxus-"

"What do you think I'm doing, woman?" He was only in boxers, but considering they were in mixed company, went to dig a pair of sleep pants out of his duffle bag. "I'm going to sleep on the couch with the boys. It'll be cool if I do it. You know, since I'm a guy. They'll think of it as-"

"You don't have to go-"

"Yes," he grumbled. "I do."

"No. Lax, your back has been so tight recently and that couch-"

"If it's me or you," he said simply as he started to slip those pants on. "It's gonna be me."

"Dragon-"

"Shut up, woman," he grumbled. "And go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

"No, you-"

"Mira, I'm doin' exactly what you want. Why are you-"

"I just-"

Suddenly, there was a yelling from another room, stopping both of them.

"God, Ever!" came a shout from, of course, the master bedroom. "You just love to pick and pick and-"

"Then get out, Elfman. I don't want you in here anyways!"

"Good! I don't wanna be!"

"Great. Then get out."

"I am!"

"Good! Go!"

There was a door opening before slamming and then a lot of grumbling and stomping, the latter which was headed down the stairs.

Then, after a minute of peace, Laxus slowly dropped his pants again and Mirajane fell back into bed.

"Do you think," Laxus mumbled as he slowly climbed back into bed with his wife, "that Ever planned that?"

"Honestly, I don't know why we didn't expect she would from the beginning."

Either way, it left someone asleep downstairs with the boys and, rather abruptly, put an end to their argument.

For a moment, the two of them just laid there, watching one another. Then, suddenly, something hit Laxus.

"Hey," he growled, eyes flaring. "Ever not only kicked him out of bed; she managed to get the biggest one all to herself! That little rat. Why did you make me give it to her? Huh? And now, tomorrow, I can't even go take it from her, order her to give it up, because all I'd be able to think about was how your damn brother had laid in that bed and-"

Mira was giggling then, softly, but just enough to catch him off guard and make him stop speaking. Then she was shifting closer (there wasn't much space between them to begin with) before burying her head in his chest to hide her laughter. It was brief, but it felt wonderful against his bare flesh.

"This," he whispered.

"Hmmm?" And oh, if that hum didn't feel heavenly. Even her breaths against his chest, though they tickled, relaxed him.

"This," Laxus sighed as she tilted her head up to stare at him, "is what I wanted this night to be like. All of these nights. We don't get this anymore. Not enough, anyways."

Breathing deeply, Mirajane just watched him as sleep finally crept into her mind. She wouldn't be up much longer.

"Let's get up early," she mumbled as she reached up to gently stroke his lip with a finger. For all the problems with a tiny bed, there were also some benefits. She was reminded of them as he snuggled her up close. "And go for a walk on the beach. Can we do that, dragon? Please? At least one of the days?"

"We can do it everyday, demon." Bowing his head, it was his turn to breathe softly against her head. "We can do whatever you want."


	4. Chapter 4

Beach Retreat

Chapter 4

"You look chipper today," Mirajane remarked as her younger sister came into the kitchen, eyes dark and mood clearly downcast. "Do you want some-"

"Why," Lisanna grumbled, "are you doing this to me?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You know."

Mirajane only giggled. "Me and Pike are just making breakfast. That's all."

"B'eakfast," the toddler agreed as he sat up on the kitchen counter, watching his mother crack eggs and put them in a big bowl. "Aun' Lissy."

"It's seven in the morning," Lisanna complained. "And you're in here, singing to him, as he tries and fails to mimic you."

"We're doing that too."

Narrowing her eyes, the younger of the Strauss sisters said, "Who could you possibly be cooking for?"

Over at the kitchen table, Freed waved at her, not looking up from the novel he was reading. "Good morning, Lisanna. And I hope you have come to realize the consequence of coming in at, what was it, Mirajane? Five in the morning?"

"It was, Freed."

"Why would the two of you know that?" Lisanna asked with a frown.

"We were both up," her sister said with a shrug. "Pike woke up crying from Master's room and I went to get him. And then Freed-"

"I am always up at such an hour," he told her as he still didn't look up from his novel. "Early to rise and all. Perhaps if you and your boyfriend took that approach, you would both not be so stagnant currently in your magic."

"Excuse me?"

"Freed practices super early every day," Mirajane told her sister with a grin as Pike only started kicking his feet, banging them against the cabinets without a care. "I saw him this morning, out on the beach, practicing with his sword."

The letter mage nodded. "It is how Laxus was, before he became the greatest to ever live."

"I don't know about ever to live," Mira hummed. "But definitely top three."

"Who else could possibly be on your list?"

"Who could you possibly be leaving off?"

"I asked first!"

"Yeah, but I don't care."

Lisanna only rubbed a hand against her head. "You two are horrible together, you know that?"

"Regardless," Freed began after finally looking away from his book, though that was just to glare at his idol's wife. "Mira and I will not cease our joyful morning on the account of someone chose to stay out all night. That is not, at all, our fault."

"As someone who went to bed at a reasonable hour," they heard Elfman call from the living room then, where he'd spent a miserable night out on the couch, "I would appreciate it if you both chilled out some. All three of you. I mean, I love you, Pike. You're a real man, but this singing ain't cuttin' it at this hour."

"Elf," the little boy giggled, not knowing most of his words nor understanding them, but definitely hearing his name in there. "Elf."

Freed only turned a page in his novel. "You should arise as well, Elfman. All of you should, really. Other than Laxus."

"Of course," Lisanna said with an eye roll. "And it's vacation, you guys. We're supposed to sleep in and relax and-"

"Vacation?" Freed scoffed as Mira only grinned, going back to her breakfast preparations. "Hardly. This should be a chance to sharpen your skills. Test yourselves in new elements. For the children and Mirajane? Yes. It is a rest. But the rest of you-"

"Why does Mira get to rest?" Elfman grumbled form the other room.

"Because I deserve it," she told them all with a grin. "And I'm pretty much already the best there ever was. I'm one of the two above Laxus."

"I cannot attest to that," Freed was quick to say, "but definitely close."

"I'll take it," Mira beamed as Pike only took to singing all by himself. If Mommy wouldn't continue, he was fine carrying on in her stead. "In closing, Lisanna-"

"Wait, are you two lecturing me?"

"You should not stay out so late," Freed finished. "Especially with Bickslow."

Mira nodded. "It's not safe."

"You two are kidding, right?"

"Oy, Lissy," they heard her boyfriend call from the den, where he was no doubt still stretched out on their shared pullout couch. "Come back. Or at least get them all to shuddup. One or the other."

"Everything we are telling her goes double for you," Freed called.

"That's right," Mira agreed.

Bickslow snorted, though they didn't hear it, before yelling at them, "Whatever you say, _Mom_."

For some reason, that got to Mirajane, as it had been bothering her since he'd said it the day before.

"I," she complained, "am not mothering you. Either of you. Or anyone."

"You mother me. Huh?"

And Nate was up, apparently, as he and Mace came into the room, both only in their underwear (they liked to mimic their fathers) as they yawned and rubbed at their eyes, the former rushing to his mother's side to hug her.

"I wasn't counting you," she said, smiling once more as Lisanna took her leaving, complaining under her breath. "Silly."

"I still don't understand why I'm being punished too," Elfman grumbled from the living room. "Or why I ever am. Men don't take these sorts of things lying down!"

"Then get up," Freed suggested. "That would solve this whole situation."

"You be quiet, you."

Mirajane only kissed Nate's head and ruffled Mace's brown hair before saying, "Master's up too, you know. He went out on the back deck, to meditate. He wanted me to get him in an hour and it's about up. Would you two-"

"Yes!" Mace, who'd gone to make faces at Pike, to get the younger child to giggle (it wasn't hard), turned to run off and fetch the master. Nate though wasn't much up for the task.

"No," he said, walking off. "I'mma go poop."

Mirajane blinked. Then she sighed. "That's great, Nathan, but you really don't have to inform everyone about that kind of stuff. Alright?"

"I was just being honest."

"There's a line between honest and just nasty," Freed remarked from the table. "And you seem to find it quite frequently."

Pike went back to banging his feet on the cabinets and, finally annoyed with this too, Mirajane moved to grab his feet and tell him to knock it off. Then she picked him up and sat him on the ground, leaving the toddler to run off to the living room to check on his Uncle Elf though it was the sight of his doggy that made him stay.

Mmmm. He loved his doggy. Almost as much as-

"Daddy," he cheered much to his uncle and doggy's annoyance as he heard the man grumble as he came down the stairs. Pushing up, he met the man in the kitchen, where Laxus had gone to complain to Mirajane about not staying in bed to snuggle with him.

In much less feminine words, of course.

"Demon," he grumbled. "What are you doin'? Huh? I wake up to find that I'm all lone. And why? So you can come down here and make breakfast for these ungrateful- Pike, would you hold on a second?"

No. He only continued to hold onto the man's leg, rubbing his face into his thigh as he giggled. He was so happy that everyone was up.

Well, almost everyone. Aunt Ever still hadn't made an appearance, but sometimes, that was for the better.

"Sit down, dragon," Mirajane said, gesturing over to where Freed was. "I bought tons of bacon. Just for you."

That made him pause. Then frown.

"Well," he grumbled as he headed for the table, "I guess maybe I could stay and eat something."

Pike held onto his leg as the man drug him along, giggling the entire time. When Laxus took a seat next to Freed, the boy quickly moved to climb into his father's lap, the man even giving him a kiss on the head as a reward for just being him. Pike was just that great.

"It is good to see you awake, Laxus," Freed greeted, closing his novel finally and bowing his head. The man only made a face at his follower.

"You're gonna be taking Master out to gawk at women today," he said simply. "So just make sure that you don't lose him or something, alright?"

"I-I do not know anything about gawking, but-"

"Laxus, would you just behave?" Mirajane frowned over at him. "If Master wants to go out and meet people, let him. He went on this vacation for some adventure. Not to be cooped up with all of us. We're the ones with kids, not him. Or you, Freed. So you guys should go have fun."

"Something tells me," Freed remarked as he blushed, "that it will be anything, but."

Ever never did make an appearance for breakfast. In fact, it wasn't until about midday, when Mace and Nate were down on the beach with Elfman and Mirajane and Pike sat around the house with his daddy, practicing his numbers and other things, that she even came downstairs.

"Where," she asked Laxus as she came into the living room, "is everyone else?"

"The other boys are out with Elfboy and the demon," Laxus said as Pike, who was snuggled up in his father's lap, only waved at his aunt. "Freed and Gramps went out woman hunting. Then Bickslow and Lisanna are sleeping off hangovers or something in the study."

"Gee," she yawned as she turned to head right into the kitchen and find something to eat. "And to think I slept through all that."

Grunt.

"When do you think Freed will be back with the Master?"

"Soon, I'd think. I mean, what are the two of them going to do together?" Shaking his head, Laxus said, "Gramps stays out there too long, he might have a heart attack. Walking around on a hot beach all day at his age. But will he listen to me? No. Whatever. Old fart."

"I think I'll go down to the beach," Ever called out to Laxus after grabbing an apple from the bag of fruit Mirajane bought. "Just for a bit."

"Good riddance," Laxus mumbled softly to Pike who only giggled. "Me and you like our alone time, huh?"

Very much. And they had it for awhile too, until the other boys came in for lunch, Mirajane tagging along as Elfman stayed out on the beach to hash it out with Evergreen once again.

"Lax," Mira called to him as Nate and Mace rushed off to go get out of their wet trunks. "Me and the boys decided that we wanted to go eat lunch out. Did you and Pike want to join us?"

"No."

"When I asked, Laxus, I wasn't really wanting you to say anything other than yes."

"Then why ask?"

"Laxus-"

"Yes," he grumbled. "I'll go. Let me go get dressed."

Outside, however, the last thing that Ever and Elfman were concerned with was lunch. The very last.

"-always do this," he grumbled as she just sat there in her chair, hardly staring at him. "You start fights with me for no reason-"

"There was a reason."

"What? Huh?" Elfman only stood over her, glaring heavily. Honestly, he wanted to go out to eat with the others, but getting things settled with Ever was more important.

Mostly because his back couldn't stand sleeping on that couch again…

"I don't have to explain myself to you." Ever toyed with her sunglasses, as if to bluff him into thinking she might lower them. "So just-"

"What was it, Ever? Huh? What?"

"Stop questioning me."

"I ain't gettin' kicked out again tonight," Elfman told her. "So far, all this trip has meant for me is watching Mace and Nate or lugging around luggage. Well, enough! I deserve a chance to relax too!"

"Who's stopping you?"

"You are."

"How? Huh? By relaxing myself?" She rolled her eyes behind her glasses. "Mirajane's taking the kids out. I'm out here, Laxus will probably go with his wife because, hell, when doesn't he, your sister and her boyfriend are stoned or something, I don't know, and are locked away in the den, and then Freed went out with Master. The house is empty. Go do whatever it is that you want and leave me alone. Sheesh. What do you want from me?"

That hadn't occurred to Elfman. He would , essentially, be left alone in the house and able to do whatever he pleased. With a son and a wife as well as an overbearing extended family (they felt the same way about him), there was hardly a chance for him to even catch his breath. A whole day to himself though?

"Fine," he grumbled, turning to walk off, figuring he'd go see if he was too big for that nice, huge tub in the master bathroom or not. Then, of course, there was that hot tub that all of them had neglected to use yet, out back next to the deck. That could be fun. "But I'm not sleeping on the couch tonight!"

Snorting, she settled out on her chair once more. "Have fun on the floor then."

When Elfman went inside, the others were just leaving. And, after peeking into the study, he found Bickslow and Lisanna just as passed out as they had been since that morning. Awesome. That meant he was completely-

There was a bark. And then he was reminded of the dog. He was never too fond of the old animal and, honestly, was more impressed that he hadn't passed on by then, but still went to go find and give the mutt a few head pats.

"Today is a day for men," Elfman announced to him. "Not pooches."

Laxus felt the exact opposite. He felt like the day was for demons and children. Definitely not men.

"Look, Daddy," Nathan said as the man walked him and his cousin around the store, looking at all the cheap, plastic toys. They were supposed to be buying some water pistols for the boys to play with, out on the beach, but of course they had to take stock of a few other things first. Mirajane had taken Pike off to find a bathroom, as for some reason, the boy waited until they were far away from the house to have to go.

What else was new?

"What?" Laxus asked, frowning at his older son came rushing back up to him, arms full of a few different things. "Nate-"

"We're gonna be pirates!" Mace had two plastic swords, cutlasses of course, to fit the theme. "Nate's got hats and eye patches and-"

"Guys," Laxus began, his tone heavy and, in preparation, both boys' faces fell. Instead of dashing their dreams though, the man only said, "If you're going to be pirates, you have to have beards. Come on. Use your heads."

So, by the time Mirajane got back to them with Pike, the boys were waiting outside the store, Nate with a big black cap on his head, a skull and cross bones on the center while Mace was wearing a brown one that, honestly, looked more like a cowboy's hat, but give his eye patch and the sword gripped in his hand, Mirajane understood what he was.

Giving her husband a look, he only grinned.

"Here you go, Pike." He moved to take the boy from his mother's arms before setting him on the ground and taking to tying a bandana around his head. "Now you get to be a pirate too."

"What," Mirajane asked as the older boys only explained to Pike that, while he was a pirate, he was only their ship hand, "happened to just getting water guns?"

"That's so boring," Laxus said as Pike giggled when his brother gently poked him in the tummy with his cutlass. "These are much better."

"Laxus-"

"How are they supposed to dig for pirate gold without the gear? Come on. Before we get something to eat, we gotta hit up a few more stores."

"For?" his wife prompted as Laxus only grabbed Pike's hand and gave the older boys their standard look that meant they didn't have to hold hands, but if they dared to run off, he'd get them good for it.

"Beards. What's a pirate without a beard?"

Pike grinned up at his mother. "Pawet."

"He's right," Laxus agreed. "We need a parrot."

Mira gave Laxus a look. "He's trying to say pirate."

"What do you know?" Laxus glanced down at his youngest boy. "You want a parrot, Pike? Huh?"

"He doesn't even know what that is."

"We need a treasure chest too," Laxus went on. For some reason, he was in a good mood. Though the boys couldn't figure it out, Mira figured it was probably because they'd made up the night before. Not to mention, just being away from the guild and not out on a job usually calmed Laxus down. Though he could be a hard ass at time, he was rather suckerish for his boys. "And gold-"

"No," Nate said, frowning back at him. "We're gonna dig that up."

"Yeah," Mace said, frowning at his as well. "Duh."

"Freed gave us a map," Nate said. "But we couldn't figure it out."

Mace nodded. "It's too hard."

"You boys can try again, huh?" Mira gave in. She always did. "After lunch."

Not Pike. If he was a pirate, he was a land one. Beaches were horrible. And so was that dang water.

The boys were all excited about lunch, but the conversation kept shifting for the older two back to their treasure hunt and pirate related topics. Mirajane would giggle and talk along with them sometimes, but mostly she and Laxus showered Pike with attention. It felt to them both at times that Pike got left out by Mace and Nate and, while there wasn't anything they could do about it, they could be his friends until another came along.

Mira was already planning on getting to work on that. Laxus? Not so much. But then again, he'd never wanted kids before Mira and that had turned out pretty great. And the marriage thing was all on her and, though there were times that they couldn't stand one another, having her and the boys in his life was turning out to be the best part of it.

When they got back to the house, they found Elfman was napping in he and Ever's room while she was nowhere to be found, not even out on the beach, and Lisanna and Bickslow were both still dead to the world. Which left Mirajane and Laxus with the boys.

"I can't believe," he said after he put on his trunks and went with her down to the beach with the three boys, "that Freed and Gramps ain't back yet."

"Mmmm," she hummed as the second they were out there, Nate and Mace got right back down to digging, taking a bucket and two plastic shovels with them. Pike was too scared to leave Mira and Laxus' sides, so they said that they'd bring him some more seashells and rocks when they found them. "Maybe they met some new friends."

"What sort of friends could two people so completely different like Gramps and Freed are meet? Huh?" Laxus shook his head as Pike, who was happily digging like the first day, took to trying to taste some of it. Noticing this, Mirajane reached out to pat him on the head and distract him.

"I'm just being optimistic," Mira told him with a roll of her eyes. "I'm sure that they went to the beach, Freed said or did something awkward, Master got bored, and then they went out somewhere nice to eat. They'll be back in the next hour or so, I bet."

"Or," Laxus countered. "Gramps was pervin' on some woman-"

"Why do you keep saying that he's-"

"-and got them in trouble." He gave her a look. "Think about it. That's just as possible as what you said."

"Possible, but not probable."

"Daddy." Pike pushed up and walked the short distance over to the man before climbing into his lap. "Build castle?"

"I tried to help you build one," the man said. "Yesterday. But you just like dumping sand."

Yeah. He liked that a whole lot. It was almost as good as pushing things over.

Nuzzling back against the man's chest, Pike watched as his brother and cousin, still in their pirate caps, patches, and beards, rushed around shirtless in their trunks, looking over the map that Freed had drawn up for them.

That dang treasure had to be somewhere. It just had to be. Freed wouldn't lie to them…would he?

Nah. He was Mace's mother's best friend and the man worshiped Nate's father. Even he noticed that. No way would he lie to them.

"Pawet," Pike yawned as he moved to grab his father's arm and wrap it around himself. "I am. Daddy."

"Yeah, you are, huh?" He got a few snuggles, but Laxus was trying to get Mirajane's attention so that they could talk some more, but she was busy staring down Mace and Nate, as if willing them to break their boundaries. She was so keyed in on them that Laxus couldn't get her attention.

Ugh. Kids were annoying.

Pike yawned, snuggling against Laxus again and, with a frown, the man finally gave him some attention.

"You did not," he complained, "let me get you all ready for the beach only to actually be tired and want to go nap."

Oh, but he could. And, when he did, Laxus went with a grumble, but Mirajane knew that really, he probably wanted to get one too. When he left, he also let the dog out, meaning the mutt came to run down to the beach and spend some time with his favorite people; Nate and Mirajane.

She'd gotten up to go help the boys on the journey, knowing of course that their venture was without gain, but still fun and entertaining to them. That was one thing that no one could ever hold against Mirajane; she was great with kids. Especially Nathan and Mace. Ever and Elfman both were either out on jobs or training most days, so their son more or less got lumped in with Mira and Laxus' two boys. He liked it that way. It was like having brothers. And the more children the better for Mira. Laxus would complain at times, but Mace was a good balance to Nathan and his whining. Not to mention he usually mellowed out the boy's love of Mira or at least distracted him from it. That was always great. For Laxus anyway.

The dog tried to follow them around as they attempted to make sense of the nonsensical map, but eventually he pooped out and just watched as Mirajane purposely played up her ditzy tendencies, pretending to not be able to understand the diagram either.

"It's okay, Mommy," Nate said as Mace patted her comfortingly. "I'm sure that the pirate didn't want people like us to understand it."

"Yeah," his cousin agreed. "He wanted smart people to."

Mira blinked as Nate just glared at the other boy.

"Mace," he complained.

"What?"

"You just called Mommy stupid!" Nathan looked ready to hit him. "Say sorry."

"I didn't-"

"Say sorry!"

Mace's similar blue eyes turned to stare up at Mirajane then, starting to water if only slightly. He didn't like to upset people. And with Nathan yelling at him, well, it was just almost too much to take.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Mira," he whined. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright," she giggled, reaching out to cup the back of his head and pull her close, hugging her nephew. "And Nate, you shouldn't be so rude to him. He didn't know."

It didn't matter. He loved his mother and no one was allowed to say bad things about her. Except for him. When he was mad. Because sometimes she did that, made him mad, but it was rare.

No one else though! Especially not Laxus. Ugh. They had that fight all the time.

Sniffling, Mace wiped at his eyes before saying, "I just wanted you to know that it was okay. That you can't find the treasure either."

"Thank you." She even bent down to kiss his head, making the boy giggle and hug her. He really did like his aunt. His Uncle Laxus too. Though at times he would rather be around his parents, he never felt unloved. Not with the demon and dragon around. And his two cousins. "Now let's get back to tracking this treasure chest down, huh?"

Though it had been fun at first, the boys were losing interest with the quest and found more fun in play fighting with their toy swords. That gave Mirajane a chance to go rub her dog's belly a bit though her eyes never left the pair.

She knew how life worked. You get comfortable, happy, and content only for it to take it all away. The others might find her too mothering, that was fine, but she wouldn't let something happen to her boys. Ever.

That night went a bit better for them all. Bickslow and Lisanna finally got up around five that afternoon and took over playing with the kids. They went on a walk with all of them, even Pike, who rode up on the seith's shoulders (he made his mommy promise she'd be there when he returned first though) as well as the dog.

"We'll take 'em further down the beach," Bickslow told Mirajane. "Be gone for an hour or so, yeah? Get 'em all tuckered out before dinner and then bed."

"Just keep an eye on them."

He even lifted up his sallet at that to stare with his magical ones into her mystical ones.

"I'll keep two."

With them gone, Mirajane and Laxus finally got their chance at peace. And the first thing they did was rush off to the hot tub.

"Cheers," the slayer jested, slamming his beer can against hers as they relaxed into the warm bubbly water. "Toasty."

Mirajane only giggled. "Freed and Master came in during your nap. They were both a little red in the face, but wouldn't tell me what went on. Master went into his bedroom to rest, he said, and Freed's been in his room ever since. I hope during dinner I can find out what went on."

"Mmmm. Dinner." Laxus shut his eyes as his head lulled back. "Do we gotta make that tonight? Again?"

"I will, dragon. After we finish up here."

"Jokes on you," he growled softly, making her giggle and shift away, his breath hot against her ear as he sat up and leaned down. "'cause you ain't gettin' outta-"

"You guys wanted to try out the hot tub too? Ha! Great minds think alike."

Laxus and Mira's faces both became bleak at the sight of her brother who was coming out onto the back deck, in his trunks and towel in hand, clearly planning on getting in with them.

Neither wanted that. At all.

"Elf," Mirajane tried. "Uh, I don't think you'll fit with us both-"

"What are you trying to say? Of course it will!"

Laxus wasn't so kind. "Look, Elfboy, me and the demon here are trying to have a moment."

"Oh, no, I get it. It's so hard," Elfman agreed as he moved to get into the hot tub with them. "I thought when Ever and I came out here that we'd get a chance to, you know, spend some time together-"

"Who," Laxus grumbled, "would ever want that?"

"But so far," he went on, "all she wants to do is sleep alone in bed, tan out on the beach, and then go off shopping. All with out me! Can you believe it?"

"Yes," his brother-in-law grumbled. "I can."

"Laxus." Mira gave him a look before glancing back at her brother. "Honestly, Elf, I feel bad for you and everything, but Laxus and I… We just don't get moments like this. You know? We both work so much. Me at the bar, him on requests, and, well, when we're not, we have the boys."

"And your son," Laxus added, as if that would sway the other man. "Always your son."

Mira nodded. "It doesn't leave a lot of…intimate time. And-"

"Oh, gross." Elfman scrambled to get right back out of the tub. "What? Are you giving him a handjob or something under the-"

"What?" Mira shifted away from her husband. "No. We're not."

"I was about to goad her into it-"

"Laxus."

"-but not yet," the slayer said as his wife only elbowed him. "And now I have a feeling not ever."

Still, Elfman hightailed it out of there. Before he headed back in though, he told them, "We got half a week here. If you two want to be alone, have a whole day to yourselves, all you had to do was say so. Ever and I or Lisanna or someone will watch the kids and you can go out on a date or whatever. Just please, don't have sex on places that the rest of us might use."

"Not on in this case, more in, but-"

"Laxus."

"Mira, I'm joking," the slayer grumbled as his brother by marriage disappeared back up the deck and into the house. "I-"

"No, not that." She frowned at him. "But yes, stop making jokes about-"

"Then what?" he asked before taking a sip of his beer.

"Elf is right. About us needing to go out on a date." Snuggling back up to him as he relaxed into the water once more, she said, "Please? Dragon? Can we?"

"Demon, did you really think I brought you here just to play babysitter the whole time?" He shook his head. "I was always gonna plan a day for us to go out, just the two of us, and enjoy our surroundings a bit." He leaned down then, nuzzling her head. 'You think your dragon don't know how to treat you all of a sudden? Huh? You're my woman, aren't you?"

"Of course," she giggled, grinning at him.

"And don't I always take good care of you? Hmmm?"

"Yes," she purred. "Dragon."

"Then you don't have to say nothin' else. Your dragon'll get it all set up." Shaking his head, the man said, "Can't believe you thought that Elfman has more game than me. Please. I'm Laxus fucking Dreyar. Of course I was taking you out."

"I'm sorry, dragon."

"You better be. Question me and my immaculate sense of romance." Scoffing, he said, "Did you forget just exactly who your dragon is, woman?"

"Never." She kissed his chest before closing her eye and enjoying the feeling of the hot bubbles on her skin. "Never."

* * *

 **So…we're going to ten chapters. Things got out of hand. I meant to do one chapter on each of the couples, but then Laxus and Mirajane bled over (they usually do) and now here we are. Oh well. I'm sure you guys will get over it.**


	5. Chapter 5

Beach Retreat

Chapter 5

"Hi, Mommy."

Evergreen only groaned, hardly peeking open an eye as she stared sleepily at the brown haired boy before her. His blue eyes were big and his face was done up in a real huge grin. Not to mention the overwhelming smell of sausage that was coming off him.

Mace, somehow, was a morning person. His mother? Not in the slightest.

"What," she grumbled, "are you doing in here? I told you not to come in here."

"I came to wake you up."

"I didn't ask for that."

"I want you to go play at the beach with us," he said before holding out to her a crumpled sheet of paper. "Look. Freed was in the room with all the books-"

"The study?"

Nodding, Mace told her, "He found this there."

"What is it?"

"A whole nother map!"

Rolling her eyes, Ever moved to grab her glasses off the bedside table before telling him, "The maps are fake. Freed's making them up. And you're stupid to not realize that."

For a moment, Mace just stared at his mother, eyes wide. Then the grin took over once more.

"You're funny, Mommy," he giggled. "If they weren't real, then how come I'm holdin' one right now?"

"Mmm." With a shake of her head, the woman moved to get out of bed then, stretching as well. The curtains to the huge window she had, overlooking the beach beyond, had never been closed and she got a nice view of it then, with the morning sun dazzling on the waves. Ever stared out at it with a yawn before reaching out to pat her son on the head.

"What," she grumbled softly, "happened to you hair?"

"Bickslow did it," he giggled at the way she poked at his overly gelled hair. "You like it?"

"No."

"Mommy."

Wiping her hand on his shirt then, she stared into his blue eyes for a moment before saying, "I want to be alone for a bit more."

"But I wanna play," he whined in response to which she only gave him a look.

"We will," she assured him. "Just not now. So go."

Ever could tell that she'd hurt his feelings, if only a bit, but she only waited for him to leave the room before heading into the adjoining bathroom. She was on vacation. He was lucky she even took him.

It took her another hour or so to get ready (going down to sit on the beach and pretend to care about what a kid is saying is rough business) and head downstairs. She knew, of course, that the boys were already down at the ocean, playing, but she found Lisanna still hanging around in the house with Bickslow babies and figured the man himself was actually in the shower. As the two women never had (or would) the closest of relationships, neither spoke to one another and Ever just grabbed a piece of fruit out of the kitchen once more before heading out to the back deck.

Freed and Laxus were out there, the latter smoking one of his thick cigars, grumbling around it about something as the letter mage nodded in agreement.

"-hot tub with us. What does he think this is, huh? Because it's not. Whatever he thinks, it's not. This is demon and dragon romance week here and he's ruining it."

"Romance week, huh?" Ever remarked, the slayer and her teammate looking up at her words. The former only glared, his scarred eye glinting.

"Yes, Ever," Laxus grumbled. "I mean, fine, I took a few days off from the romance part, but I'm back on. In full."

"Then why is Mira down there, at the beach, and you're up here?"

"Because," he said as he sat up and looked off. "My demon enjoys raising my boys. I gave them to her to raise. See? Romantic?"

Freed, though he knew that logic was extremely flawed, still nodded.

"That's a very intelligent thought, Laxus," he congratulated as Ever only shook her head. About then, a loud cry could be heard down from the beach, all three of the adults glancing down there. It was one of the boys. And, as the one in question became clear, Ever only grinned at Laxus.

"There goes the romance," she said to which he just moved to thrust his cigar off on Freed who, really, had no idea what to do with it, before getting to his feet.

"What happened?" he asked as Mirajane came up to the steps to the deck, her youngest crying loudly the whole while. "Pike? Huh? Tell Daddy."

Ever, never one for crying (unless it was her own) only headed down the steps passed Mirajane. The older boys were still out on the beach, as well as Elfman and Master Makarov, so she figured she could find something interesting to do. Then again, anything was better than listening to Pike cry.

Anything.

"The water, Daddy," Mirajane told him as she passed the whining toddler off onto him. "It was too much for him."

"Pike, buddy, baby dragon." Laxus nuzzled his head against the boy's. "You gotta get over this."

He couldn't. He wasn't the one that kept bringing him down to the beach. Or made him go on that stupid vacation. They did. In all accounts. So it was all their fault. All of it.

"We tried to," Mira said as she reached out to stroke her son's similar white locks. "And we were making so much progress. We were building sandcastles-"

"You mean dumping sand out?"

Nodding at her husband's words, she went on. "We were doing that right by the where the tide was coming in and, well, he was fine for a bit, but then the bucket rolled away and he got up to get it and the water came in and…well…"

"Poor buddy." Laxus gave Pike some kisses as the child only sniffled. "It's okay. It's only water. You love water. I thought you did, anyways."

Meh. Kinda neutral, honestly.

"It's just so scary," Mira said softly as, with a sniffle, Pike settled out in the slayer's arms. "It- Laxus, were you smoking up here?"

Well, if the scent didn't give it away, the fact that Freed was holding the cigar out, as if it were trash, away from him did.

"What? Me?" Snort. "Demon, come on."

Mira just stared. Then Laxus sighed.

"Yeah," he grumbled. "I'm smokin'. So? It wasn't around the boys. Till you brought this one up here."

Pike wiggled in Laxus' arms before moving to press his head into the man's shoulder. He just wanted to go home. When would that be happening?

"Besides," Laxus went on as he shot Freed a look, the man reading it as figure out how to get rid of the cigar and fast. "Let's not focus on that right now, huh? Poor little buddy here, my baby boy, he's dyin', yeah? My tiny little dragon. Baby demon. Are you okay, Pike? Huh?"

Mira wasn't buying all the love he was throwing down on their son at that moment, but still decided not to fight that point. Instead she only went back to stroking her son's hair and whispering softly to him.

"I just don't get," Laxus grumbled as Freed disappeared off, giving them some time to themselves, "what he's so afraid of."

"Mmm." His wife glanced away from the boy then and up at him. "He just doesn't like change, Daddy. It's not his fault."

"I know. I ain't blaming him." Laxus gave him another kiss because, well, Pike deserved it. "I just wish he'd get over it." When Mira didn't say anything, Laxus went on. "I ain't trying to be insensitive to him or anything. I mean-"

"You're a lot better, Lax," she whispered as, when Pike reached out for her, she took him back into her arms. "It's only been, what? Three years? Four? And you're already so much better with dealing with the boys."

Still, he leaned down to nuzzle Pike's head some more though the boy was trying to snuggle with his mother.

"I love them," he told her softy. They were alone, after all. "I love you too. But he can't keep acting like this."

With a hum, Mirajane said, "I kinda like it."

"What?"

"He's getting so old," she said, eyes gleaming as she stared at him. "And Nate's already old. He doesn't even like to snuggle with me that much anymore."

That got her a look from the slayer.

"I said _that_ much," Mira defended his silent opposition. "It's true. I mean, sure, he and Pike still love and need me, but not like babies."

"Mira-"

"I just think," she began, "that a third baby would complete everything. Another little boy for Pike to play with. Or a little girl for me to put in dresses and do her hair and-"

"Not the time, demon."

Pike didn't think so either. In fact, he thought it was the time to whine some more. So he got back to that. Then though, it was because he could hear Bickslow and Lisanna from in the house and wanted to go play with them. When he took to wiggling, Mirajane moved to drop him gently onto the deck, the boy quickly crossing it and going to press his face against the glass backdoor, staring in.

"I just," the woman insisted, "was thinking about it. That's all."

Snort. Then, with a slight grin, Laxus reached out to cup her cheek in his hand.

"Go back down to the beach, demon," he said before glancing over at their youngest. "Me and Pike wanna spend some time alone, yeah? You're crampin' our style over here."

Mirajane knew that he was only trying to get rid of her, but as it was, she had been having fun with Nathan and Mace before Pike started his fit and knew he was fine with his father. He and Laxus thrived on getting as much alone time as they could. Frequently, Pike got overshadowed by his much more vocal and needy brother. Especially where their father was concerned.

Back down at the beach she found that the boys, in her absence, had found a much better use of their time than searching for that dang treasure.

Namely bothering Evergreen.

They were both purposely digging holes around the chair she was sitting in, tossing sand on the woman constantly, ignoring her demands that they both stop. And her husband, who was still mad that, once more, he'd been forced to sleep on the couch the night before, only stood by with instructions to them about how real men feared no woman. Especially not an evil one that kicked her manly husband out of the room only because she was a monster who didn't understand just what sleeping on a couch did to his back. Makarov was there too, but he only watched with disinterest and, honestly, Mira still hadn't gotten the full story about what happened between him and Freed the day before, but was counting on Laxus to swindle it out of Freed sooner or later, just for her.

After watching the scene for a moment with a grin, Mirajane figured Ever and Elfman had the two boys under control for the time being (or at least her brother did) before deciding that if everyone else got their break from the kids, it was her turn. So she headed down the beach to do some thinking.

Though only a few days had passed on the trip, already Mirajane was wishing that she was back at home. Not that it hadn't been fun. Because it had. A lot of fun. She always worried that they were all so caught up in themselves and the guild that they forgot to give the boys any real enjoyment in their lives. She could remember being a child and working with her parents until their deaths and then by herself for the rest of forever. She didn't want that for Nate and Pike. Mace either. She wanted them to have fantastical memories that they would hold with them forever.

Well, she did the older two. Since he'd been miserable the entire time, she wasn't so big on Pike recalling any of the trip when he got bigger. If things didn't improve soon, she figured that the entire thing would be more scarring than anything else.

Not that she wanted to spend that time reflecting on her sons. She loved them, of course, but the majority of her time was done doing that. It was her time to enjoy the beach. And herself.

Also think a bit about what exactly Laxus could be planning for their romantic date and on what night it would be occurring.

Laxus was thinking of the same thing. Or, rather, he, Pike, and Freed had set off to find a spot for him and the demon.

"I want somewhere nice," Laxus said as they left the beach house in search of just the place. "Reservations nice. Buy her some wine, get her tipsy, and hookup at some point nice."

Freed only blinked as Pike, who was riding on his father's shoulders, took to patting the man on the head. He didn't understand yet that his parents would be having a night away from him, leaving his aunts and uncles to watch over him. Not to mention his Gramps. No, he didn't quite grasp that yet.

But he would. And when he did, there'd be tears. Many, many tears.

Was it wrong that he loved his mother and father? Huh? And never wanted to be without at least one of them? That he had separation anxiety so bad that sometimes he couldn't even spend the night over at Gramps' or Mace's? Was that just some sort of terrible offence?

Was it?

"I hope," Freed said slowly, "that you are not planning on having this…hookup at the house that we're all living in."

"And why not?" Laxus shook his head. "We're making a baby here, Freed."

He choked. "You're what?"

"Well, we're talking about it, anyways. A lot. Recently." Shrugging slightly while keeping his hands on Pike's little feet so he didn't fall, the man said, "I dunno. My demon likes babies, I like my demon, and these ones turned out alright. Why not go for the trifecta?"

"Uh, because Mirajane might decide to not stop there," his follower said slowly. "And go for broke. Then you'll end up with ten children before she's done."

"And?" Laxus snorted. "My woman deserves ten kids. And if they're coming out of me, which they will be, then they'll be awesome. All of them. I deserve to have an army of children to adore and admire me. To mentor and mold. Not to mention keep my woman happy and content. Entertained. I'll have a thousand kids if that's what she wants. You got a problem with it?"

Again, the letter mage could only blink before slowly shaking his head. "N-No, Laxus. Of course not. I just-"

"Hey, guys! Wait up!"

"Wait up, wait up, wait up!"

Neither did, of course, as they could easily pick out exactly who it was chasing them down. Bickslow and his dolls. Lisanna too, Laxus was sure, but he refused to glance behind him to find out.

"Did you not hear us?" the woman in question complained when, after sprinting, she and her boyfriend were able to catch them. "I mean, seriously?"

"Of course he didn't," Bickslow said as his babies took to floating around Pike's (and by default Laxus') head. "No way they would have kept going if they had. Right? Right guys? Huh? I mean, right? Why would you ever try and avoid me? Huh? Why?"

Laxus didn't say anything. Only passed Pike off to his aunt when he cried out for her with a shake of his head.

Lisanna. Over him. Unbelievable.

"Hi," she greeted her nephew, the little boy only giggling in response as he cuddled up against the woman.

"So," Bickslow said as Freed and Laxus only exchanged sighs. "Where are we headed? Guys? Huh?"

" _We_ ," Laxus began, stressing the word, "were going to scope out a place for me to take the demon. What the two of you are doing here is beyond me."

"We wanna hang with you, boss," the seith snickered. "Ain't it obvious?"

"For you?" Freed asked. "Maybe. Lisanna? I find it unlikely."

"She goes where I go," Bickslow said with a shrug. "Ain't the right, Lissy?"

"I didn't feel like searching for treasure," she said with a shrug. Laxus felt that. He really did. "Or listening to Ever and Elfman argue." And Freed felt that one.

"However you want to put it," Bickslow complained, "she's with me."

"Yeah because that's totally what she said." Laxus even rolled his eyes. Then he said, "Anyhow, you bozos weren't invited. So scram. Freed and I have serious business to attend to. Don't want you dingbats tippin' the demon off on where she's gettin' to have dinner some time this week."

"Yeah, Laxus," his sister-in-law remarked dryly. "That's what we dream of. Ruining you and Mira's dates."

"Yeah, I know. I have known for a long time." Letting out a long breath, he said, "You try and take my woman from me and my boys. Trust me. I've noticed."

"I was being sarcastic."

"I'm not."

Bickslow just scratched at his head. He did that a lot when he wasn't wearing his usual getup. Lisanna figured it was because his head got cold without it.

"Say," the seith said slowly. "You think that we could do a double date thing, boss? Me, you, Lissy, and Mira, having a grand ol' time and-"

"Never."

"Boss-"

"Never. And I mean that. Sincerely."

Freed shook his head, looking off. "The fact that you both have this conversation nearly weekly, Bickslow, is not only disheartening, but shockingly not discouraging to you."

"Never lose faith," the other man said. "Something to live by. One day, the boss'll be sittin' around with his woman-"

"Could we stop talking about my sister being his woman?" Lisanna frowned at all of them. "I mean really? That's totally sexiest and disgusting."

"Why?" Laxus wasn't so willing to put an end to something he liked saying so much. "She is my woman."

"Shut up."

"She is." Indignation had its place in nearly all their conversations. Especially when Laxus was involved. "She's my woman. I'm her man too. It goes both ways. So get off your high horse, girly, 'fore I knock you down."

Bickslow just stuck out his tongue. "I was kinda talking, you know. About how you're gonna decide one day, boss, that me and Lissy are the prefect pairing to you and, err, your very equal and not at all objectified by our male views, although, I would like to point out, she very well could be because, well, boss, you really hit it out of the park when you scored-"

"Before you alienate me as well," Freed intervened, both Laxus and Lisanna already too far gone as they took to just glaring at the seith, "perhaps you should wrap this up, Bickslow? Hmmm?"

"Just that, I dunno, that I totally wasn't hitting on Mirajane," he said slowly, "and we shouldn't even be talking about this anymore. Let's stop talking about it. Freed, how could you bring this up?"

"Me?"

Pike whined from Lisanna's arms as even he felt the shift in moods. Bickslow's babies stopped bothering him and took to hanging around their Papa's head, mourning the loss of fun along with him.

The rest of the walk into town was silent.

When they got there, Bickslow almost immediately drug Lisanna (and by proxy Pike) off into a pastry shop, leaving Laxus and Freed alone once more.

"Now," Laxus began, rubbing his hands together as he took in the somewhat busy street they were on. "Look around. I see a little café, but that is not up to my demon's standards."

"Considering Mirajane is just as happy eating at the bar as she is going out-"

"By standards," the lightning mage grumbled, "I meant what she deserves. She deserves the world. Contained into a little restaurant. Where I don't have to spend too much because, let's be honest, the demon eats a lot when she wants and she probably wants. Just a feeling."

"Right," Freed said slowly. "So you want me find a restaurant, not that Mira wants, but deserves. One that is worthy of the world, but is cheap."

"Not cheap. Just… No, yeah, cheap. On the pocket. But not on the quality. I mean, what, Freed? Huh? You implying that my demon don't deserve high quality?"

"N-No. I never said-"

"That's what it sounds like to me."

"Laxus, I would never-"

"She deserves the utmost quality! She is, after all, mine. And do I have things that don't deserve higher quality things in life?"

"I honestly have no idea what you're asking other than I should probably say-"

"Yes! They do! And she does! So there."

Rubbing a hand against his forehead, Freed said, "I do not remember you being this way before the Strauss siblings got involved."

"Yeah, well, the years tack on. Now get to searchin', huh?" Laxus let out a short breath. The other man was right, of course. The old him would not have wasted his time in a beach town with a bunch of randoms that would never have to know his real name or even anything serious about him on finding a nice place to take a date. A wife. But as it was, that was exactly what he was doing. Considering who he was doing it for, he figured that anyone could understand why. "Nice and cheap. Cheap and nice."

It took no time at all (or a lot of time, Freed could never tell when he was with Laxus, it just all blurred) to locate a place and hook back up with Bickslow and Lisanna who, unshockingly, were stuffing their faces with some pastries and getting Pike to do the same. He was pretty willing, actually.

"You've ruined your lunch," Laxus grumbled to the boy who, with face covered in sugar, only giggled. "Just so you know."

Pike didn't mind. It was worth it.

On the walk back home, the little boy insisted on hold both his father and aunt's hands. Not that either of them were thrilled with this, but it at least left the two male members of the Thunder Legion to themselves.

"So hey," Bickslow found himself asking after a moment or two of silence. "We never talked about you and the Master's little sightseeing trip. Go well?"

Freed looked off, his skin heating up slightly. "It was…an adventure."

"Guessin' you didn't get invited back to, uh, any beach houses."

Not even turning to glance at the other man, Freed said simply, "Master is much more of a looker, as it were, while I am more the man that smoothes things over when he gets caught looking."

"Makes sense."

"Much."

"A lot of angry women?"

"No. Mostly their…boyfriends. Women find Master cute."

"Mmm." Bickslow whistled. "At least you got something out of it, right?"

"What was that then?"

"You said that you got to talk to the women's boyfriends, right?"

"Yes," Freed reaffirmed. "And?"

"Well, they were at the beach. And all wet and tanned and in swim wear and…"

"And?"

"Well."

"Well what?"

"Just well, Freed. Sheesh. Do I have to come out and say it?"

"Come out," the seith's dolls sang. "Come out, come out."

There was a growl then, from in front of them, as Laxus glared back at the pair.

"Would you losers knock it off?" He huffed. "Jeez. I'm havin' a moment here with my sister and son and you're-"

"Awe, Laxus." Lisanna gave him a look that did not match her tone or words at all. "You called me your-"

"In-law," he corrected. "I meant in-law."

"Uh-huh."

"I did! I meant in-law and- Shut up! I don't have to explain myself to you. To any of you. Just shut up." Then, because he felt it was needed, Laxus added, "Except you, Pike. Go back to singing, buddy. Where were you?"

Uh, try in the middle of his ABCs and, no, he couldn't just pick right back up when he was interrupted. It ruined the whole song! No, he just had to go back to the beginning. There was no other way.

They were regaled with the wonders of the song the whole way back as Pike, for some reason, felt the need to sing it ad nauseam. Laxus didn't make him stop either. Just let him keep singing and singing and it was horrible and…and…and…

Finally they got home. Or at least the beach house. Pike found it to be a stark difference, but still alright. After all, his mother was there and not down on the beach, meaning that he got to go sing her his ABCs and have her compliment him on it.

She was really good at compliments.

"Where," Freed asked upon entering to find Mirajane in the living room with the dog, "is Evergreen? I feel as if we should discuss a training regimen while we're here."

"I think she's outside playing with Mace and Nathan," Mirajane said as Pike glared at the letter mage, annoyed that his great rendition of the ABCs was being ruined. Again.

"Ha, no," Bickslow snickered as he and Lisanna quickly left the room (training? No thanks). "Seriously, where is she? I wanna go bug her for no good reason."

"I'm being serious," Mirajane said as Laxus came to join her on the couch. She had to pause to giggle when he nuzzled at her neck. Shoving him away, she added, "Mace is her son, you know. She does spend time with him."

"Sometimes," Freed remarked as Laxus, after being rejected, only went back for more.

"Daddy," Pike complained from Mira's lap as the man continued to kiss at her neck. "No. I singin'!"

"Sorry, buddy," the man said as, though he removed his head from her neck, he still kept an arm around Mira's shoulders. "Mommy distracts me."

"I distract you?" she complained as Pike only glared. They weren't being cute to him. They were being annoying. Very annoying. "You're the one-"

"G'amps!" Suddenly, he saw the man pass by in the hall and jumped from Mira's lap, rushing right over to him. "I sing!"

"And that," Laxus sighed as Mirajane, finally, was the one to snuggle into him, "takes care of that."

It really did, as the others cleared out too, leaving them all alone. Giggling once more, Mirajane stared up at him with a grin.

"Where'd you run off to, dragon?" she asked. "Hmmm?"

"Pickin' up chicks. Wheelin' and dealin'. You know, the usual."

"Sounds spectacular."

"Well, anything with me is, so-"

"You actual seal this deal? Or did you come up dry?"

"Demon," he complained, staring down at her with a frown. "It's me. Dragon. Laxus Dreyar. Of course I sealed them."

"Mmmm. With my sister and our son there?"

"I like a challenge."

Humming against him, she whispered, "You know, dragon, what you do, I get to do twice over."

"How do you figure?"

"Because I'm me. And I get what's mine and yours. That's how it works."

"Is it?"

"It is."

"I think you're lyin'."

"You know what's funny?"

"Hmmm?"

Leaning up to give him a peck on the cheek, she said, "I think you are too."

"Wha'?"

"Yeah."

"No way."

"Yes way."

Growling playfully for once, he leaned down to nuzzle their foreheads together.

"My demon. My little baby detective demon. You understand me, don't you? See right through my lies?" When she nodded, he smirked, showing off his canines. "Detective Demon. That's gonna be a thing now, you know that?"

"Only if you're my Deceitful Dragon."

"I'll never be that," he told her harshly. "Never."

"That's good." She grinned. "I'd much rather be Matchmaker Mira than Detective Demon. And you can be my Loving Laxus. Okay?"

"Only when we're alone."

"Or whenever."

"No."

"Yes."

"Mirajane-"

"Ooh, Loveable Laxus, you're just so-"

"A second ago it was Loving Laxus."

"Oh, so you do like it?"

"What? I didn't say-"

"Mmm." It was her turn to nuzzle against his head, having to lean up to do so. "Can we spend every day doing this?"

Considering he could hear Pike crying in the other room and knew that soon, Evergreen would tire of both the older boys and probably leave them in tears, no. They wouldn't even be able to have that moment for much longer.

But she was his demon. And he'd tell her whatever she wanted. And, even as he said yes, breathing it against her neck as he buried his head there once more, she knew it was a lie. As loving as he was, he was also quiet the fibber.

That was okay though. Mira preferred him that way.


	6. Chapter 6

Beach Retreat

Chapter 6

"Now Erza," Makarov said as he stared into the communication lacrima. "You are a hundred percent certain that everything is going fine on your front?"

"A hundred percent," the swordswoman said as she craftily positioned herself in front of the crystal-like ball, as to not give him a clear view of the chaos going on behind her. "The guild is in tip top-"

"Master!" he heard a yell from somewhere behind the woman that sounded an awful lot like Happy. "Don't listen to her! She's a tyrant! Come-"

"Quiet, Happy," a more hushed voice of Natsu no doubt silenced the Exceed. "If you don't, she might punish us again."

Makarov blinked in surprise as, even with his shoddy hearing, he'd been able to depict what they were saying. Erza sent a glare over her shoulder before looking once more at the lacrima.

"I assure you, Master, that they are overly exaggerating," the woman said. "I merely have…dealt with the indolence that has taken over the guild as of late. That is all. If anything, you should thank me."

It took some more blinking before the man said slowly, "W-Well, I suppose-"

"In short, Master," Erza finished, "I am rather busy here. Things must be attended to. You have taken our main barmaid and, well, Lucy just isn't holding up in her place."

"I'm holding up just fine!" came the yell over Lucy from somewhere in the background.

"She's broke five pitchers the first day," came Happy's retort. "And you don't even wanna know how many beers she spilled-"

"Shut it, cat!"

"As I said, Master," Erza reiterated. "There is much to do. So if that's all-"

"Just," the old man said, "be careful not to do too much harm to the guildhall. Please. I don't know how many times the lot can bounce back."

"Underst-" A loud crash cut her off. "Lucy!"

"It was Happy's fault! He flew into me!"

"Na-ah. She walked into me!"

And then the lacrima went dead. Which, actually, was for the better, as there was a knocking at the old man's bedroom door then.

"Master," he heard Mirajane call out on the other side. "Are you napping?"

"No, my dear," he sighed as he moved to put the lacrima away. "You may come in. I was just speaking with Erza."

"Oh, really?" Swinging the door open then, Mira poked her head in. "And how are things then?"

"Well, considering."

"Considering?"

"That you and I are not there to keep everyone in line. Make sure things stay in order."

With a grin, the woman said simply, "Well, Erza had to get her feet wet eventually."

"Something tells me that this is the most wet they will be getting," he sighed. "Then again, I think we all knew that from the start, didn't we?"

"Hmmm?"

"I hear you and Laxus. Not to mention I've only raised the boy." With the lacrima back in his bag, the elderly man turned to face her. "He's always thought that I was handing the guild over to him. And you haven't helped things by furthering the idea."

"Well, you are, aren't you?"

Makarov didn't say. Only asked, "What was it that you needed then? Hmmm?"

"Nothing really," she said slowly. "Just to make sure you're up. Laxus and the other guys went out to train. I think Lisanna went along. Nate, Pike, and Mace are here though if you wanna help me watch them."

"I suppose I could," he said slowly. "I take it I missed breakfast?"

"Well, yes, but I saved you some, Master," she was quick to say. "Of course."

"Of course," he repeated as he slowly followed her out of the room. "I could have made my own breakfast-"

"Master, you don't even do that at home."

It was true. He didn't. Not anymore. On days that she worked up at the guild, she'd always drop by his house before going to the hall to open, so that she could make him something quick. And days that she was off, well, she still got up around sunrise typically, just to go over there and make sure he had something to eat. The same was true with lunch. And dinner. If she wasn't there to make or bring it to him, she made sure one of her siblings were.

The past few months hadn't been great for the man, if he was going to be honest with himself. Which, at the moment, he wasn't. At all.

"And? I could," he grumbled. "If I wanted."

Mirajane, used to the grumpy side the man had sprouted as of late, only hummed. "Of course, Master."

"I could."

"Of course."

"Treat me like I can't care for myself," he complained. "Who do you think you are?"

"I'm only trying to help."

"You're always only trying to help. Cut it out. I- Careful where you throw that, boy." His attention was shifted onto his grandchildren as, when he and Mirajane got to the living room, he was almost struck by a tennis ball that the boys were playing fetch with the dog with.

"Nathan," Mirajane complained at the sight. "You know better than to throw things in the house. And Ever, you're supposed to be watching them."

"I am watching them," she said from the couch where she was flipping through a magazine. "I'm just not disciplining them."

"This is your friend's house, you know, " the other woman pointed out, but Ever just waved her off.

"G'amps." Pike grinned over from his blocks at the sight of the man. "Play?"

"He's gotta eat breakfast first, baby," Mira said as, at the sight of the other two, Ever saw her opportunity to get out of there and took it. "Then you guys can play."

Pike didn't like this idea and got up to follow the man into the kitchen. Makarov was more than happy to take him while Nathan was more than glad to have him go. Mace was the only other one in the room vying for Mirajane's attention then (the dog had run off to go find that ball) and, well, that was just swell.

Nate felt like making it less of a treasure hunting day and more of a Mirajane day. She was pretty great, after all.

When she came over to him, he just led her right over to his toy cars (Mace was technically playing with those too, but they were actually _his cars_ as Nate hadn't been too into sharing that day) and pulled her down.

"Here, Mommy." He shoved a car in her hand. "You can play with me. Use this car. Okay?"

Grinning, she leaned down to kiss his head before looking over at Mace.

"Did you get new cars?" she asked when she saw an unfamiliar one in his hand. With Nathan, that wouldn't have stood out as the boy had a high number of toy cars. Mace though only had a few (they weren't really his favorite; he just pretended for Nathan) and the bright yellow one in shi hand stood out to her. "Mace?"

"This one," he said, holding it up proudly. "Daddy got it for me when I asked. I like it."

"I do too," she giggled as Nathan only frowned.

"It's okay," the blonde haired boy said. "I guess."

"I think it's more than okay," Mira told her nephew who only giggled. "I think it's great."

Nate didn't agree, but he also didn't wanna start off their play by arguing with Mira. That wouldn't get him anywhere good.

"What do you boys wanna do today?" she asked as both of them got very interested in rolling their cars around on the carpet. "Just this? Or more treasure hunting?"

A day or two had passed and, while running around in pirate's beards had grown tired, searching for that dang treasure hadn't.

Yet. Mirajane figured that it was quickly becoming that way.

"I wanna play cars forever," Nate told her. Mace glanced up with wide, blue eyes at that. Mirajane only shook her head at him to let him know that there was no way that was happening.

For the rest of them, anyhow.

"Mmmm," Mirajane hummed. "I think I want to have a low energy day. Just sit around the house. Okay with you guys?"

Duh. Did Nate not just tell her that they'd be playing cars all day?

Mace though only nodded.

"I wanna build a fort," he told her. "A big fort. Make the whole house a fort!"

Through a chuckle, Mirajane said, "Maybe we can't go that far, but we'll definitely get a fort done today."

Well, they would. Because Laxus returned from the training session before the others, dragging an annoyed Lisanna along with him.

"What's this then?" Mirajane asked with a giggle as they showed up. She'd taken the boys out into the front yard to play tag and, at the sight of her husband, only smiled. "You getting too old, Lax? To keep up with the others? Had to come home early?"

"Ha ha," he said as Lisanna, having a long walk to terms with her fate, only took over with the children, allowing Laxus to grab Mirajane's arm and haul her off back towards the house. "You're so funny, demon."

"What are we doing?"

"We," he said as she took note of just how sweaty and nasty he was, "are going to go take a shower."

"Uh-huh. But why?"

"Because we're going out, demon. You? You could go out how you are right now. Me? Me, I couldn't. And as my wife, if I'm not ready, you're not ready."

"I don't remember that being in the vows."

"Late edition."

"Mmmmm."

"Come on then." He grinned at her, teeth showing through. "I feel like I need a good scrubbin'."

"You do know this isn't our house, right?"

And that got him to stop, just as they entered it. That wouldn't be a problem, really, had they had not been with all the others. Thinking, Laxus said, "We'll lock the door."

"Dragon. Don't be nasty."

Huffing, he dropped her hand. "Well what then, Mira? You expect me to clean myself _by_ myself."

"Well, you are grown."

"Get ready, anyhow," he decided as he set out. "For a day out. With the Thunder God."

"Sounds fancy."

"Not nearly."

He was quick about it, his shower. And when he was finished, he headed to his and Mira's room to get ready.

She was waiting, seated on the edge of the bed while doing so. At the sight of him, she grinned.

"So," she prompted as he headed over to the dresser in the room, where he'd sat a bottle of cologne. "Where are we going? Exactly?"

"Places, demon. Many places. Wherever your weird, demonic heart desires."

"Can we go get ice cream?"

"Sure."

"And we don't have to bring the kids?" She was mostly shocked by that one. "Or anyone?"

"Nope."

"Really?"

"Got it all worked out, woman." Again, she got a toothy grin. "You should know by now that your dragon don't plan things and have them fall through."

"Of course I know. It's your greatest quality."

"That, Mira, would be you."

"Awe."

"Now come on." He went to go offer her his arm, which she took with a giggle. "We got a day to spend together."

This had _not_ been run by Nate. Or Pike. Or Mace for that matter, but he was much more willing because, yeah, he loved Laxus and Mirajane to death, but Lisanna was good too. She was his aunt as well.

But Nate and Pike, well, Lisanna was okay, but she was no Mommy. Not to them anyways.

"No," Nathan said when his mother and father came back out off the house, both dressed then to go out. He was supposed to be running from Mace, who was it, but tag be damned, Laxus was _not_ going to take his mother away. Not that day. Not any day. "You can't. Mommy, no! You were playing. You have to keep playing!"

"Nathan," Lisanna sighed from where she was trying to keep Pike blissfully unaware of what was going on (the boy had horrible separation anxiety). "I don't like it anymore than you do, but-"

"Nate," Mirajane sighed, separating from Laxus to go and gently pat the boy on the head. "You know I love you."

"Then stay."

"But I love Daddy too."

"Gross."

"Nathan-"

"The demon's coming with me, brat," Laxus growled, glaring over at the boy. "And you're gonna stay with Lisanna. Get over it."

"Laxus," Mira groaned as Pike finally started to catch onto what was going on. Without much thought, he plopped right down onto the front lawn and began to sob. "Oh, Pike."

"This," the slayer grumbled at the sight as Mace, left with far too many people to tag (they were everywhere), only stood there in indecision, "is why we should have just left by the backdoor."

"I wouldn't leave without telling them," Mira complained. "I mean, come on, Lax."

"Here, Pike." Going over to his youngest, Laxus lifted him into his arms. "You're gonna go inside, huh? I think I saw Gramps in the kitchen, making a snack. Do you like snacks?"

He liked his mother and father a lot better, but sure.

As Laxus went off to distract the boy with food, Mirajane got busy pretending to play tag with the boys again until he got back. Lisanna, who knew how her sister's children acted when their parents were away, was not looking forward to it in the slightest.

Nathan didn't like it any better either when Laxus came back without Pike and only went to whisk Mirajane away, off on their adventure. Poop. It was pure poop.

Mira didn't even like Laxus as much as she liked him. Of that, Nate was sure.

Still, she just gave him and Mace each a kiss to the head and promised to be home later.

"I'll bring you home a treat," she offered to which Laxus only grunted before patting both boys on the head.

"Behave for your aunt." Then he glanced at Lisanna. "Your other one, I mean. Give this one hell."

Of course.

"Shut up, Laxus," Lisanna complained as Mace giggled and Nate only glared at her.

Don't get the boy wrong; he loved his Aunt Lisanna. A whole bunch.

But did he like her? Heck no.

It was pretty mutual, actually.

As far as he was concerned.

"Let's go now." Mira even waved at the boys before going to grab her husband's arm and be the one dragging him off for once. "See you later. Be good."

But Nate didn't wanna be good. And he only stood there, fuming as he watched them walk down the road and off into the sunset to be happy and without him.

Bah!

At least his doggy loved him…wherever his doggy was.

Huh. Maybe he should look into that.

"Okay," Lisanna said after it was clear the pair was gone. "Boys, did you wanna get back to playing? Or did you wanna go inside and see what Master and Pike are up to? And maybe pawn you off on Evergreen?"

"We wanna play with you." Mace loved Lisanna. A whole lot. And, with a grin, he rushed over to hug her.

"Awe. That's so-"

"You're it!" And then, even though he loved her, Mace took off running as Nate, with a chance to show up Lisanna, did so as well.

"Ha ha." Nate got out of his funk just like that, giggling at the sight of his aunt glaring at them. "No one really loves you, Lisanna."

"Shut up, Nathan."

"No! And come catch me! Bet you can't!"

Ugh. How was it that she was the one without children, yet constantly got stuck watching children?

Honestly?

She felt like Freed or something.

Which was rather ironic, considering at the moment, he felt as if he was being forced into her role. Or at least the one she'd taken over from him. Namely, Freed was on Bickslow duty.

"Did you see? Did you see? Huh?"

And sometimes, that was just like watching young children. If not worse.

"Yes, Bickslow," the man sighed. "I saw you flip off the tree branch."

"It was perfect! Stuck the landing! Didn't I, babies?"

"Yes, Papa," they all cooed. "Yes!"

"Bickslow, please," Freed sighed. "I have tired of watching all your acrobatics. In fact, I tired of them ten years ago. So if you would-"

"Ha!" Elfman rushed over and, to Bickslow's surprise, lifted him up above his head. "You think flips are manly? This is manly!"

"Hey, put me down man," the seith growled. "I order you! Babies, atta- Ow! You guys are hitting me!"

"Watch it," Elfman grumbled as green lasers hit him in his sides. "I'm just proving my manliness!"

"No one was talking about manliness!"

"Ooh," Freed groaned as he only put a hand to his head. "Laxus, in your infinite wisdom, why did you leave me with the two of them?"

Uh, because he and his demon needed alone time. Duh.

There was no calming Elfman and Bickslow back down though. They'd waited all day for Laxus to get gone so that they could finally goof off. There was no amount of Freed's complaining that would put a stop to them.

Recognizing this, Freed easily ditched them and headed back for the house. There was not any part of him that wanted to deal with their tomfoolery. There had to be something at the house that would be better for him than that. Something productive.

"Count to…um…ten, okay? Then come look."

He found that something in the most childlike game ever.

Hide-and-seek.

"There is no way," Freed complained to Mace, "that you will have adequate time to hide by the time I reach that number. Why would you pick such a low time frame?"

Nate only blinked at him. "You're a whiner."

"I am not! I am only saying-"

"Freed, just count," Ever called from wherever she was in the house. "I'm tired of hearing you argue over the rules."

"I'm not arguing, I'm just-"

"Then I'll be it," Mace decided as they stood in one of the halls of the huge place. "So go hide. And don't get lost, Pike."

Oh, he wouldn't. He was gonna follow Nate everywhere he went, like usual.

You know, until the older boy yelled at him and told him to scram, that he was going to get them caught, which would only make his baby brother cry and ruin everything.

The usual.

Lisanna though had taken her leave and had gone down to the beach to spend some time by herself. Out there though, she found that she wasn't alone.

"Here you are," she sighed as she found Mirajane's mutt resting in the sand, panting slightly. "What have you been doing?"

Chasing birds, peeing on rocks, living life to the fullest.

With a giggling, the woman went to take a seat next to the old dog and rub his belly some. He liked that. A lot.

"You're so silly," she said as he wagged his tail some, but didn't move otherwise. Living life to the fullest sometimes meant taking a nice, long rest.

Maybe until the tide came back in and bothered him.

Or until Mirajane called for him to come inside for some food.

Either or.

Whichever happened first.

It was while she was out there, purposely avoiding going back into the house and being dragged into a game of hide-and-seek, that Bickslow showed back up.

"Lissy! What are you doing out here with that beast?"

"You can calm down," she said as he walked down the beach to join her. "He's too tired to bother the babies."

"Still. Memories linger."

"Mmmm. You stink."

"You can't even smell me yet."

"Yeah. Yet." Pointing as he came ever closer, she said, "Go rinse off in the ocean before you come over here."

"Lisanna-"

"It's the only way."

"But I'm in my gear!"

"Take it off."

He pushed up his visor. "Hey now, what exactly are you-"

"Down to your boxers, dummy."

"What if I'm not wear-"

"Bickslow."

"Fine," he groaned as he began first with shedding his cloak. "But I'll have you know that you don't always smell that great either."

"Offense."

"Truth."

Only once he was laying there in his skivvies, soaked to the bone and Mohawk looking a wreck did Lisanna allow him to sit with her.

"Mmmm. I think we should leave Fairy Tail."

"Oh yeah?" He didn't lift his head from where it was resting in the sand, the water causing it all to stick to his limbs. "And do what?"

"Bum it. Out on the beach."

"Babe, if you couldn't deal with my stench a minute ago, you try livin' on a beach for a few days and then come talk to me."

Frowning down at him, she asked, "Did you just call me babe?"

"That might have left my lips, yes. Or completely awesome ruler of my life. One or the other."

"Not sure how the two could be confused, but sure."

Opening his eyes then and turning his head to the side, he said, "I'd have to stock up first."

"On?"

"Hair gel. That stuff ain't cheap, babe."

"There you go again."

"I meant supreme ruler of the world."

"Uh-huh."

Grinning at her, he resisted to stick his tongue out, if only to avoid getting a mouth full of sand in it. "Leavin' Fairy Tail's a tad harsh though, yeah? And for such a worthless cause. I dunno… Maybe pretend to take jobs and actually be out there bummin' it instead?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"And go home to Mirajane and Laxus when we get tired of it and let them take care of us for a bit?"

"I assumed that was implied, so of course."

He snickered then as his babies took to resting in different spots. From in the sand, to on his back, and on Lisanna's lap, they had a lot to choose from.

"I still wanna find some fireworks, you know," he told her. "And your stupid brother won't let me play billiards without him and it ain't fair."

"Why's that a problem?"

"Because I can't beat him!"

"I don't think you understand what fairness is."

"And I think you don't understand how little I care."

For a minute they had a stare off and Lisanna had a flash of that past fear she had, when the two first began hanging out, back when they were just friends. She always worried that he might try to, like, take her over or something. It was part of the thrill, really, of staring into his eyes. Though it had died down a ton, it never really went away.

Because Bickslow was fun with her. He was playful. And sure, a lot of the time, when they were alone, they were a bit stoned, but he was still, at his core, downright brutal. She'd seen him in battle. He took no prisoners. Only souls.

"Fine," he groaned as he broke first, just for her. Looking off, he said, "I'll keep playing your brother and losing. If that's what you want."

"That's not exactly it, but I appreciate the effort."

"I try."

"I know."

Shutting his eyes and mouth once more, Bickslow thought for a moment or two before asking, "Did Laxus tell you what he and Mira would be doing today? I mean, it's still super early. What could they possibly do all day?"

"Why do you wanna talk about them? I mean, come on, surely our lives are more exciting than that," she insisted. "To spend it talking about my sister and her husband is just…odd. Right? I think. We used to talk about a lotta other stuff."

Kinda. He mostly just used to listen to her bitch about life and she'd pretend to be entertained by his views of the world. But if that counted, sure.

"We've grown up, Lissy," he told her. "We've changed."

"We have not changed."

"Have too."

"Have not."

"Grown stagnant."

"Gross."

"It's true."

"Is not."

"Just face it."

"I refuse."

"You don't get that option sometimes."

"Well, how do we reverse it then?"

"Mmmm…" Pushing up then, he stared over at her. "What's the most immature thing you could think of doing right now?"

She tilted her head up at the sky and thought. "Um…fighting incessantly over something stupid and then screaming that we hate each other, not talking for a week, and then having nonstop sex sounds like something we used to do."

"Lissy, I think you confused us with your brother and Ever."

"Oh yeah." Then she shrugged, looking back down at him. "Well, they're pretty immature on a regular basis and that's like their main shtick these days."

"Meh. It's not so immature now as it's just old and boring,," he pointed out. "Plus, I don't know if you know this, but going without you for a week kinda puts a damper on my whole mood."

"I thought you were the dark brooding knight anyhow?"

"Dark," he complained. "I have never said anything about brooding."

"Uh-huh."

"Anyhow, I just don't think that fits us."

"We could go crash Laxus and Mirajane's date," she offered. "I swear we used to do that all the time."

"Again, not us. That was Freed."

"Oh yeah."

"You just block out all of the things that we do together, kid, or-"

"Oh, I know." She shook her head in annoyance that she hadn't realized it before. "Duh. We used to just get drunk at the bar or your apartment and then sleep it off until you had a job or I had to work or even just blow those off."

"Mmmm." He nodded. "That totally sounds like us."

"And completely immature."

"Completely."

"Sometimes we'd smoke too."

"Yeah, you got me in major trouble with that from the boss a few times."

"And go camping. A lot."

"I think we were trying to find ourselves or some bull like us."

"No, I think we mostly just did it to piss my sister off."

"Again, that was you."

"Or, oh, I know, I could complain about Laxus and how much he's ruining my life-"

"And I could capitalize on it by getting tons and tons of sex out of it while hardly listening to you anyhow."

They grinned at one another then.

"That," Lisanna agreed. "Definitely sounds like the old us."

"The immature us."

"Which we're totally not now."

"Nope."

"I mean, now we divide our time between babysitting-"

"Totally not immature."

"-and searching for fireworks."

"Again, not immature."

"And fine, a lot of smoking and drinking-"

"But not so much that it impedes on normal life."

"No way."

"My body's getting too old for that."

"And it's not even worth it now that it doesn't freak Mirajane out."

"So it's settled then?"

"Yep."

Again, they just stared at one another.

"Uh, Lissy-"

"Hmmm?"

"What did we just settle on again?"

"W-Well…I guess to go out and drink and smoke and complain about life or something."

"And sex. Lots of sex."

"To get under my sister's skin."

"And bother Laxus."

"And…that sounds really dumb now."

Nodding, he slowly sunk back into the sand.

"I wasn't going to say it if you weren't."

"And a lot of work."

"Loads."

"Mmmm." With a loud, longing sigh, Lisanna said, "I think I like being mature."

"Refined."

"It has a nice feeling to it, doesn't it?"

"Less devious."

"Tons."

"And a lot less getting my ass chewed out by the boss."

"Mmmm."

"So," he started. "You cool with just laying around here for a bit and doing nothing?"

Giving the dog a pat, she said, "Definitely. I mean, what idiot suggested doing something else?"

"Have no idea."

"Completely asinine."

Again, silence fell over them, the sound of the waves and a few distant birds mingling in with the dog's snores, Bickslow's soft breathing, and Lisanna's humming which had hints of each of the five dolls own sounds as they tried to mimic her. It only lasted a few minutes though before Bickslow ventured to speak again.

"But we're still getting the fireworks eventually…right?"

"Of course."

"And…drinking? And smoking? Right?"

"Just not to crazy levels."

"Oh, right, duh."

"I mean, what do we look like? Mirajane and Laxus? Ancient?"

"Just wanted to be sure."

"The day we don't want to find fireworks and set them off for our own amusement is a day I don't want to meet."

Grinning, he finally let his tongue fall and got a good taste of that sand. Around it, he got out, "Me neither."


	7. Chapter 7

Beach Retreat

Chapter 7

"It's so weird to think about, isn't it?"

"What's that?"

"How we never had this. And if we did, there's a good chance we wouldn't be together now."

Mirajane only stared across the table at her husband, grinning at him slightly. They were out on one of their very few dates and, as with most, he felt the need to bring that up.

"Lax," she giggled slightly. "We did have this. We went out on dates."

"No." He even shook his head. "Not for more than an hour or two, because we had to get back to Nate. And even then, we weren't doing so great. Everything was rushed. And we already had a kid, so it wasn't like we could take time to really get to know one another."

"We knew each other already. For years."

"Not in a relationship way and you know it."

Never one to like when he said these sorts of things, Mira only shrugged. "I liked it better the way that it was."

"Why?"

"Because, Lax," she giggled. "If it wasn't for Nate being there, forcing us to be together, we never would have been. Or even tried. And we definitely wouldn't have stayed together those first few months. He was the sole reason that we even started dating. You were a jerk before him. I would have never dated you. Or even thought about it."

He gave her a wry smile. "Thanks."

"You know what I mean." Grinning as well, though less sardonically as usual, she added, "Besides, dragon, you were never into me either."

"Oh, no, I was," he assured her. "Very much."

"Not exclusively."

"You got me there."

"Besides," she went on. "What difference does it make how we got here? I'm just glad that we are."

Shrugging, he pushed the rest of his plate of fries across the table to her, knowing she'd end up taking them if he did so or not. It was only lunch anyhow; he was totally going to be keeping dinner for himself.

Mainly by only ordering things that he knew she wouldn't want.

It was the only way, really.

"Mmmm," Mira hummed as he only took to looking around the place. That was just a trait he couldn't shake. Laxus was always on the lookout for potential threats. "What do you wanna do after this?"

"I dunno," he said with a shrug. "We got ice cream, went for a walk around the town, and now are eating lunch. Anything else you wanna do? Shop a bit? Or something?"

"Or something."

"It's whatever you want, demon," he insisted as she dug right into his fries. "Your day, huh? All day."

Mira was more than down with that. And Laxus was too. Begrudgingly, but still down.

Nathan and Pike? Not so much.

"Will she come home now?" the oldest of all the boys asked as his Aunt Lisanna made him and the others some lunch. Freed was helping too. "I miss her."

"Nathan," Lisanna complained as she cut Pike's sandwiches into pieces and his and Mace's in two. "You're too big to whine like this."

"I'm not," he said. "I was just asking."

"Get out from under my feet," was all she said as he and Mace continually rammed their toy cars literally into her feet. "I mean it."

"Leave Lisanna alone," Freed chided from where he was chopping lettuce over at the table as well as tomatoes and onions. "You are both extra annoying today."

No. It was more that they were all having to take on the burdens that Mira faced every day and they did not like them. Not one bit.

Pike was spending his time trying not to panic and keeping Gramps from falling asleep. Naptime was after lunch those days. Someone had forgotten to inform the old man about this though.

"G'amps," he complained, banging his little fists against the pages of the large children's book the elderly man was reading from. "Wake!"

"Huh?" Groggily, Makarov groaned as he opened his eyes to find himself still sitting in the den of the massive house Ever had scored them, apparently reading to his youngest grandson. Blinking, he mumbled, "I'm up, I'm up."

"Read, G'amps." Pike snuggled back against him. "Not sleep."

"I wasn't."

Hn.

"Let's see here," the man went on as he glanced over the page. Turning it, he said, "Ah. See, Pike? The little puppy is just running into some other dogs. I remember that. Because I didn't fall asleep."

Sure.

Settling out in his lap once more, the little boy only waited to have his story finished and then some lunch and finally a nap. Then hopefully Mommy would come back. Daddy too. Then they could play together. It'd make the day, not great, but acceptable.

Because being left alone without the two of them just wasn't. Acceptable, that is. At all.

Why they all couldn't just stay together forever and never have to go anywhere at all and ruin their perfect family bond that they all had no matter what anyone thought especially Nathan when he got into one of his moods was just beyond Pike.

Completely.

"Don't do that, Pike."

So was why picking your nose was so bad.

"No," he complained when his grandfather forced him to take his finger out of his nostril. "G'amps, no!"

"You blow your nose if you have to."

"No!"

"Stop it. Are you grumpy?"

"No!"

Maybe a little.

"Or are you just hungry?"

"No!"

Definitely a lot.

That was what was great about Gramps though. He didn't reprimand Pike when he got loud and yelled. The only time that he really got in trouble was when he hit or bit. Other than that, he was pretty much free to do as he pleased. The man was awesome that way.

Lunch went okay. Nate and Mace were distracted mostly by Elfman and Bickslow, who spent the duration of it arguing while Pike mostly just took to feeding his Aunt Ever her lunch. She was never much one for this sort of thing, but if it kept the child from crying, she would suffer.

Nate and Mace were to the age where naps weren't important and, after lunch, sent Pike off for his as they took to begging Elfman to let them go down to the beach.

"Really?" he asked, almost shocked. "You've gone to the beach every day this week. You're still interested in-"

"Yes!"

Of course. They still hadn't tracked down that treasure.

Lisanna and Freed easily shifted watching duties onto Ever (who needed to tan anyways) and Elfman, leaving them alone in the house with the sleeping Makarov and Pike as well as the very rambunctious Bickslow. And the latter would not be taking a nap. Not for anything.

"I," he declared to his best friend and girlfriend once they were by themselves in the game room, "have something to announce."

"Announce!" his wooden babies proclaimed. "Announce!"

Freed, who was setting up the balls for a rousing game of pool, hardly glanced up. "Please do so quietly. Pike is napping."

"Downstairs," Lisanna pointed out from where she was lounging on the couch in the room, flipping through a magazine.

"Still," the letter mage insisted. "Sometimes it is better safe than-"

"I," Bickslow kept up, standing more over Lisanna and speaking to her mostly while ignoring Freed than anything else, "have secured us something to make today even more perfect."

"Perfect? Is that what today was?" Lisanna hummed, hardly glancing at him. "I was thinking more dull and boring, but what's the point of being with someone if they don't see things a bit differently than you?"

"Stripes," Freed called out to the seith then, still thinking they were going to have a game of billiards. Yeah, right. Bickslow was schmoozing his woman at the moment, pool be damned.

"Would you just let me talk?" the man grumbled, glaring from Lisanna to Freed. Without his visor on, he always looked a little odd to his green haired friend, but unbelievably attractive to his girlfriend. Not a hard decision when it came to the mask around the house. Off. Always off. "Jeez."

"What is it, Bicks?" Lisanna sighed, moving to sit up some and drop the magazine. It was dated anyways. "Huh?"

Huffing, he took a moment before saying, "I think that the only way to have any real fun around here is to what? Huh?"

"Kick you out of the house?'

"Get rid of the kids," Bickslow said, ignoring Freed's suggestion. "No vacation's fun with kids. I mean, sure, I like the little runts, but-"

"You can't be serious," Lisanna complained. "I mean-"

"I agreed, actually," Freed said as he just went on with the game himself, figuring Bickslow could join him when he finished being foolish.

"Really?" The seith turned to grin at him. "You do?"

"Yes. Your dolls have always annoyed me."

Bickslow growled then, but not loud enough to drown out Lisanna's giggles.

"I wasn't talking about them and you know it!"

"How could you possibly know what I knew when I said something that I clearly didn't know?"

"Don't try to confuse me, dude! You know exactly what I meant and you totally know it."

"As I previously stated how could you possibly know what I knew when-"

"Okay, okay," Lisanna intervened, sighs taking over her giggles. "Knock it off."

They were glaring at one another then and the last thing she wanted was some sort of battle between the two of them.

"How would we even get rid of the kids?" she prompted. "Bicks? Huh? I mean-"

"With Ever, of course," he insisted, turning his attention back to her. "She's the other one that's driving the enjoyment down around here. Her and Gramps. Master is great, but come on."

Rolling his eyes, Freed went back to his game though he did say, "What good would any of that do? Mira would fret the entire time over the children, Laxus would be annoyed that she was fretting over them, Elfman would be worried about Ever watching young children because, of course, that would be warranted, you would be annoying as always, and Lisanna would be- Do not glare at me, Lisanna. I was merely going to say that you would just go along with Bickslow because you always go along with Bickslow."

She couldn't fight him on that one. She did, however, sit back and try to think up a way to.

With her distracted, Bickslow took over.

"I've thought about this before, bro," he said simply, walking over to the pool table then as his babies took to landing on Lisanna and the couch around her, giving her comfort in her deep thinking. "Why do all our parties fail? Hmmm? For all of those same reasons. Other than, like, Ever watching kids. We never let that happen for a reason."

"Not for long periods of time at least," Freed agreed. "We rather like them alive, I've found. And not lost."

"The biggest one though," Bickslow continued, "is the boss."

"The boss?"

"The boss! Laxus!" He even nodded his head when Freed shook his head. "Yes. I know you won't believe it-"

"Never. So do not try to force me to."

"-but it's true," the seith insisted. "Laxus is a real hard person to please. Honestly, I don't know how Mira does it. I'm thinking a lot of blows and telling him what a good dragon he is because he really likes that last one and I'm just guessing on that first one, but-"

"I tuned back in on the completely wrong portion of this," Lisanna remarked from the couch. "But please stop talking about my sister in that way. Thanks, babe."

"Of course, babe."

"Double thanks, babe."

"You're welcome, babe."

"Babe, you're really killing me with these babes."

"Sorry, ba-"

"Could we," Freed complained, "stop with the madness? How Mira pleases Laxus is of no one's business."

"I'm really leaning towards those blows that," Bickslow kept up. "And I think anal. What do you guys think?"

"Not at all," Lisanna said with a blink. "About that. Ever."

"Oh, no, she doesn't do that. I mean, could you imagine-"

"Bickslow," Freed groaned. "What is it that you were trying to tell us? Huh?"

"Oh." He snickered then, reaching up to rub at his Mohawk. "No, I's just gonna say that we gotta keep the boss happy, you know? To have a good time? Because if Laxus is happy then he won't hound on making Mira happy and it'll give her a chance to actually be happy and then she'll make Lissy happy which will keep me happy and stop me from bothering Evergreen and keep her alright which means Elfman will be alright and Freed, dude, if we keep Laxus happy enough, maybe _you_ could keep him please. You know what I mean?"

"I know that you're about to get kicked out of this room," Lisanna said as Freed's eyes darkened and he looked ready to remind the seith of his place. "And that is sorta my sister's husband. I feel like we have to keep going over this. Stop talking about my brother or sister or the people they're with having sex or anything close to sex. Please. It's really awkward. I think we've done a good job of it recently, but you just keep sliding back into it-"

"Well, you didn't like me being mature before," he complained. "What? Am I supposed to just figure this stuff out on my own?"

"I don't know, Bicks, but-"

"What," Freed said, eyes still locked in a glare, "is your plan to loosen Laxus up? Hmmm? Can we just get to that?"

"Oh." Rooting around then, the man produced a baggie from his pocket, holding it up proudly. "I didn't find any fireworks, but when you stopped into that shop to use the bathroom a few days ago, Lissy, I ran into a guy that sold me some shit. I got some other stuff too. And man! Boss'll lose his-"

"His shit," Lisanna finished with a frown. "Laxus will lose his shit when he finds out that you have drugs in the same house as his kids."

"What? Nah. I-"

"Boom goes the dynamite." Freed grinned then, as it was almost the perfect revenge for the comment the seith had made before. "When Laxus hears that you've had-"

"What is the big deal?" Bickslow seemed nervous then, his excitement fading as he took to just walking around the room. "It ain't like I'm doing anything around his boys. Right? Right?"

"Hmmm," his friend hummed. "If I know Laxus like I do, he won't see it that way at all."

"Or Mira," Lisanna agreed with a frown. "I mean, Bicks, I know that sometimes you don't get it, but they're really strict about their kids."

Glaring up at her then, he said, "Oh, so what? You don't want any then?"

"Are you stupid? Of course."

"You don't even know what he has," Freed grumbled with a frown. "And Laxus will yell at you just as much for…for… Whatever it is that the two of you are planning to doing with that stuff-"

Bickslow snickered again finally. "Bro, you sound so old."

"And you sound foolish," the other man challenged. "What? Recreational drug use in a house that Ever's friend is kindly letting us use that Laxus, who treats his body like a temple, also is allowing his sons and grandfather to stay in sounds like a wonderful idea, Bickslow. You're so intelligent. Why does no one brag on you for being intelligent? Hmmm?"

His face dropped right back down. "You're not funny, bro."

"And you're not eighteen. Grow up."

"You grow up. You stupid-"

"What is with you guys?" Lisanna complained as Pappa, who was in her lap, took to making loud noises, as he usually did when someone was arguing. None of the babies liked that. Not when it was two people they cherished as much as their papa and Freed. "You've been at each other since we got up here. What? Have you been spending too much time together or something?"

Or something.

"Oh, hey, I know," she kept up. "Are you guys, like, drifting away from one another? Is your friendship in crisis? Man, this feels like something Mira would love."

The two guys weren't joking like she was though and only looked off. Slowly, Freed went back to setting up a shot and Bickslow walked over to where the movies for a movie lacrima sat, glancing through them.

When the two of them fought, it was never fun. For anyone. Settling back into the back, mindful of the wooden dolls up there with her, Lisanna picked back up her magazine to wait it out. She knew it wouldn't take long.

"I just," Bickslow mumbled after a few minutes off pure silence, save the sound of the balls on the pool table smashing into one another, "thought it'd be fun. For us to all get together, smoke a few, laugh, kick back, not have Ever hounding us, or the kids bothering us. That's all."

"And I just," Freed added, "think it was in poor taste. All of it. Your entire behavior recently."

Again, silence befell them. Then, slowly, Bickslow shrugged.

"It's a lot of weight, man," he said simply.

"What is?"

"Having to be entertaining. You guys are all so boring that it all falls on me."

Lisanna figured it was a guy moment or something stupid and kept her two cents out of it. Besides, the look Freed was giving him at that comment pretty much summed up everything she wanted to say.

"I do not think," the letter mage said simply, "that anyone has ever asked you to be the entertainment. Nor would they."

"What do you mean? I'm plenty entertaining!"

"Sure."

"I am," he argued. "What? If I'm not the entertaining one in the group, who is?"

"I fancy myself as pretty-"

"Freed."

"What?" the man stifled. "I'll have you know that Mira tells me that I'm plenty-"

"Dude, Mira finds ants entertaining."

"It's true." Lisanna couldn't help herself from chiming in then, glancing up from her magazine. "She also thinks that beetles are just amazing. They have their own personalities. She swears by that."

Still, Freed said, "I see ourselves set up in many subgroups, as it is."

"Meaning?" Bickslow prompted, not liking the direction of the conversation at all.

"Meaning that there is no one person that is always plays a single role," he said simply. "When it is just Laxus and I, he entertains me."

"You're really setting yourself up for the jokes there, Freed," Lisanna commented, going back to her magazine. "I mean even I have a few."

"Then, when it is Mira, Laxus, and I," he continued, ignoring her wholly. "She entertains us both."

"Lissy's right, man," Bickslow insisted. "So many. So, so many."

"Then when you factor you and Lisanna into that equation," he kept up, still determined to block them out. "I feel as if there is no one entertainer. There are usually so many things going on all at once that none of us can focus on only one. And when you add in Ever and Elfman, well, they almost demand attention with their constant bickering. And you and Lisanna are not much help, the way that you both insist on being utterly annoying-"

"Uh, that's the entertainment," Bickslow argued. "You're getting it confused is all."

"No." Freed had no play in his tone. "I am not."

"Bro-"

"Stop…saying those words to me." He shook his head. "I am not saying that your role is a serious one, but to think that it is still the same after all these years, regardless of whether it is as an annoyance or as entertainment isn't the main issue."

"Then what is?"

"That you think that it has stayed the same throughout the years is astounding and asinine. We have all grown up. You especially. To think that you still have to get high to feel good about yourself or your relationship with any of us is just pathetic. We're better than that. You're better than that. At least I thought you were." He took a shot then, one that wasn't too good and made him sigh. His concentration was shot. "Then again, considering that Lisanna was more than on board, I have a feeling you two never cut down any on your usage of such things anyways."

"We all have vices," Lisanna challenged when Bickslow stayed silent. "You still do Laxus' bidding like he's a god. You haven't gotten out of that."

"I do not think of his as a literal god."

"Dude," Bickslow said. "Seriously."

"I don't," he defended. "I only think that if there was a man who might be considered as a god, if our society d to that point, then I would definitely-"

"Please, just stop," Lisanna begged. "Please."

"You two are the ones that brought it up," Freed defended. "Do not seek my opinions if you do not wish to have them."

Again, a moment or two passed when they all just looking between one another. Freed took another shot, Lisanna flipped a page, and Bickslow finished with the movies.

"You're not completely unentertaining," Freed offered up finally, glancing over at his friend. "Perhaps not my choice, but surely others. I think that Elfman finds you…interesting. And Lisanna clearly enjoys you."

"Yeah." The seith glanced over at her and their eyes locked for a moment. "She thinks I'm pretty great."

"Someone has to," she mumbled. "And I think your babies are beginning to tire of the job."

"What? Nah."

"Definitely."

"Definitely," the wooden dolls all mimicked. "Papa."

Bickslow only huffed. "They're just confused is all."

"Sure, Bicks. That's it."

That time when they were all silent, it wasn't so bad. Lisanna went back to her magazine, Bickslow went to pick up a pool stick, and Freed didn't mind disregarding his game without a single word. He and Bickslow were so in sync when they weren't fighting that there was no need. They'd spent enough time together that they could practically read one another's actions before they occurred.

Mirajane and Laxus had that too. That synced up thing.

Most of the time anyways.

That day they seemed a tad off. At least they were where it counted. Or maybe Mira just refused to pick up on the signal he was putting out. Either way, she was rather shocked when she learned about how, fine, most of the day and evening were for her, but the ending definitely was not.

"-think we should head back," Mira told him before they even got to dinner. Hardly even after lunch, really. They were that bored together. Huh. "I mean, we can still be together back at the house, huh? We can make the others still keep the boys and we can go sit down at the beach together or maybe try the hot tub again-"

"We're not going back to the beach house, demon."

"O-Oh, Lax, did you think that I meant that I wasn't having fun?" His tone didn't hint at that, but she had a bad feeling that he was just masking it. The two had taken to walking around town again, after shopping turned up that she wanted nothing (shocking as that was), and Laxus had his arm thrown over her shoulders, but that wasn't too unusual. At all. "Because I am. This has been great. Really. I just-"

"No, demon," he grumbled, glancing down at her. "I meant we're not going back there tonight. At all."

"We're not?"

"Nope." He even shook his head. "I rented us a room, yeah? At the motel up the road. I mean, it's not my normal quality, but-"

"Laxus, are you serious?"

Now Mirajane, she was not a tone hider. Not when she was mad, anyways. And boy, he could tell that she was peeved.

"What?" He held down a groan as she came to a stop there in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing him to do the same. "Demon-"

"What are we going to be doing, Laxus? Huh? Back at this motel?"

"Mira-"

"Pretty presumptuous of you to think that we would-"

"That my wife, after I take her out to a nice lunch and an ever nicer dinner, if you'd have let me get to that, would want to go back somewhere to, like, at least bang a little. So sorry. Many pardons."

She only narrowed her eyes at him before saying, "I told Pike and Nate that I would be back soon."

"Tomorrow is soon."

"Laxus."

"I mean compared to, like, three tomorrows-"

"We're going home. Now."

"Mirajane-"

"Go to your hotel room, Lax," she said as she started walking again and, with a groan, he followed. "Have a nice nights rest and-"

"I've just been tense, alright?" He rushed to put his arm back around her shoulders. "Really stressed. And I know what's happening when we get back home with Gramps and-"

"Shush."

"Mira-"

"We're not going to talk about that." She glared up at him then. "Not until we speak with him. Nothing's final."

No. It was. Since a few months ago when Mirajane decided that, if they were even going to think about another baby, they needed to start looking at purchasing a home, he knew his life was over. Mainly because Makarov was, of course, only getting older. And more senile. It didn't take long for Mira to mention to him that, if their house was roomy enough (or not), she wanted the old man to come live with them.

Which would be a battle, Laxus knew. One that he really didn't want to fight. If Makarov came to him and said that he needed help, of course Laxus would offer it. But he would always be too prideful for that.

But that was why they had Mira in their lives, he figured. She was there to take care of them. And it wasn't fair for her, he knew, to constantly having to make the trek back and forth from the apartment to Makarov's place. When the man finally did retire, she'd have to do even more as he wouldn't be going up to the guild as often, forcing her to make more trips to his place to check in on him.

It would be better, if he moved in with them.

Laxus just knew that Makarov would never see it that way. Never. He'd never needed anyone and he was sure that he never thought that he would. Mira though was big on family and, Laxus was nearly certain, if she could swing it, she'd have them all living on one big compound with her creepy siblings and the Thunder Legion and, hell, probably Erza, Natsu, Lucy, the Exceeds, and every freaking one else too.

His woman was a little loony, but given her upbringing, he figured it came with the territory.

Honestly, he was trying hard to figure out just what Mira was planning as far as the new baby went. Surely the woman didn't think that they could juggle living with two young boys, an aging dog, and a decrepit (and kinda pervy) old man all while they were trying to get pregnant again.

Then again, it was Mirajane. She probably would even add a cat to the mix if she could.

Lord, if there was any idea he wanted to keep her (and the boys) away from…

"Yeah, well, we don't got many more days out here," the man grumbled slightly as he followed her along. "And you know as well as I do that if there's ever a time to corner him about it-"

"I'm getting to it, Laxus."

"Yeah, well-"

"You know as well as I do that it'll hurt him." Her annoyed tone dropped then and it became softer. Losing her glare, she said, "He'll think that we think that he can't take care of himself anymore."

"He can't half the time," Laxus said simply. "And-"

"And I know that. And he knows that. But he won't want to admit that."

Yeah. Laxus knew. The old man had always taught him to know when defeat was imminent, but the geezer seemed to forget how to follow his own advice somewhere along the way. If it was up to him, he'd let the old guy live alone as long as possible, but as he'd learned from the start with getting involved with Mirajane, it wasn't up to him. From keeping Nate onward, Mira'd been in control.

Sometimes he just liked to delude himself into thinking otherwise. That was all.

Hence the reason he was being led back home instead of to a motel room to fuck like rabbits with his woman.

Ugh.

Mira was lucky she was perfect. Otherwise there might've been a few problems.

"We just love him," she decided after a moment or two of silence. Swallowing, she said, "And he can hate it, he can hate me, but we love him. And he needs us right now. After all he's done for us, we owe it to him."

Letting out a long breath, Laxus only leaned down and nuzzled his head against.

"Yeah," he agreed softly against her white locks. "We do."

"Mmmm." She was relaxing again. He could just tell. Then she had to go and say, "And you owe it to our sons not to try and whisk me away without warning them first. They're fragile."

"And you're psychotic."

Perhaps. But no matter what he said, she knew he liked it.

And he did.

A lot.


	8. Chapter 8

Beach Retreat

Chapter 8

Mirajane sighed as she sat at the table on the back porch, Pike snuggled up in her lap, as he colored and she sat idly by, listening to the sounds of Nathan and Mace down at the beach, chasing their beloved dog around as the Master and Freed watched them. Across from Mirajane sat Laxus, who was eating a late breakfast.

"You're going to hate yourself," she told him through a yawn. "When we get back and you can't wake up before noon. This vacation lasted too long. You've gotten lazy."

"Me?" Laxus stabbed at his eggs. "Worry about yourself, demon."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're about to face-plant into poor Pike's drawing. Would you like that, buddy? If Mommy fell into your masterpiece?"

"I colorin'," he told them both, not looking up. "Daddy."

"I know." To Mirajane though, Laxus said, "You're the one that's gotta go back to work as soon as we get back. Not me."

"Yes, you. We need you to take a job. Remember? We're saving for a house, Laxus."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I'm serious."

"I hear you, woman." He stabbed again. "I just don't care."

Mirajane rolled her eyes before glancing back down at their son. "That's really pretty, sweetie. Can you say thank you?"

"T'anks, Mommy."

"Awe. You're getting so big. You know that?" She snuggled him then, leaning down to nuzzle her head in his hair. "Mommy's gonna have to get a new baby."

"Don't go telling the boy that, Mira," Laxus grumbled slightly. "You know how it turned out for Nate when he realized what having a brother meant. You won't be fostering any good feelings by phrasing it the way you did. And besides, we've just been talking about it. No one said we were actually having one. The last thing we need is him repeating that to one of the others and them thinking your pregnant."

She just snuggled Pike some more and said to him, "What are you drawing though, baby? Huh? Is that Daddy?"

Of course. What else would a purple blob that kinda looked like a stick figure and kinda look liked poop with a yellow line coming out of it be? Huh?

"Spitting image," Laxus remarked, glancing down at it. "Emphasis on the spit."

"Dragon."

"What?"

Pike though took that as a compliment and only grinned. "Daddy. I draw you."

"I see."

"You sure are talkative today, baby," Mirajane told Pike who giggled. "I think he's finally getting the hang of being on vacation, Lax."

"That's my boy," the slayer complimented through a mouth full of bacon. "Don't feel comfortable in new places. That's smart. You get the lay of the land, Pike, make sure everything's alright before you decide it's all okay. You got a mage's instincts."

"Or," Mira said slowly. "He's just shy."

"'Shy?" That did _not_ sound cool to Laxus. At all. And therefore, his son was not that thing. "He ain't shy. What would he have to be shy about? Huh? He's just here with the same people he's always been with."

"New places are scary."

"No," Laxus grumbled. "They're not. They're just something for him to investigate. Be cautious about. That's what he is. Cautious. My boy. Not shy."

Mirajane didn't feel much up for arguing. "Sure, Lax."

"It's the truth. Ain't that right, Pike? You're not shy. Are you?"

"Daddy. Rawr!" He drew a squiggly line then on the paper, a yellow one. "D'agon. Daddy."

"That's right." Laxus nodded. "We're dragons, ain't we, Pike? And dragons ain't no cowards. They ain't shy. They roar and take what's theirs."

"He's a little demon though," Mirajane reminded. "Aren't you, Pike? You hide in the shadows and lay in wait. Then you strike."

"Nah. Na-ah." Laxus shook his head. "He's a powerful dragon who-"

"Oh? And demon's aren't powerful, hmmm?"

"They're very powerful." He leaned across the table, so that the two of them could see eye to eye. "But a dragon's better. And you know what I am, Mirajane?"

"Someone in need of a toothbrush?"

"A Dragon Slayer," he told her darkly. "Which makes me what now? Hmmm?"

"Pompous and arrogant considering you've lost every time we come up against dragons?"

"Stronger," he said, "than a dragon."

Mirajane grinned widely. "You know what I am then, Laxus?"

"Ready to admit defeat?"

"Even stronger than a Dragon Slayer."

"How do you figure?" he asked. "Huh?"

"Because," she sang, removing one arm from around Pike so that she could reach out and poke his nose, "I tamed you."

Narrowing his eyes, Laxus gave her a glare. "I ain't tamed, woman."

"You are tamed."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Mirajane-"

"Awe. You're so cute when you try to defy your master."

More narrowing. Then, with a defeated grunt, Laxus settled back down on his side of the table before stabbing at his eggs once more. "You're annoying."

"But most of all right."

Grunt. Giggle.

"D'agon." Pike snuggled back into Mirajane then, dropping his color crayons so that he could grab onto her arm and pull it back around him. "Mommy."

"You wanna be a dragon, baby? Huh?" She sighed. "Inevitable, I suppose."

"He ain't ever seen you as Satan Soul," Laxus told her then, as if as a show of sportsmanship. He'd won, but she was still his. Gotta leave her feeling good. "Hell, even I want that kinda power. To be a demon."

"Shut up, Laxus."

"It's true. You're the most powerful woman in all the world."

"But not just person. In general. Woman."

He shrugged. "Everyone else factored in, gee, you'd probably rank about...right behind me."

"I'd only rank eighth?"

"E-Eighth? So you're saying I'm-"

"Uh-huh."

"Look, you little demon-"

"I'm looking. But all I'm seeing is a number seven."

More growling. "Tell me who you put above me?"

"Na-ah."

"Yes. Now. Tell me."

"No way."

"Mirajane-"

"Laxus-"

"Mommy." Pike didn't feel like waiting that fight out as he held his picture up for them to see then. "Look!"

"Hmmm?" Glancing at the paper, she took it from him. "Oh, Laxus, look. Isn't he so talented?"

"The most." He snatched the drawing from her. "Buddy, this is going straight in my pocket right now. I'll keep it always-"

"No, Daddy!" Pike moved to take it right back, the slayer easily giving it up. "Mommy's."

"W-What? Buddy-"

"Mmmm." Mirajane took the drawing once more. "It's lovely, dear."

"But it's of me," Laxus argued. "It's mine. You drew it for me. Right?"

No. Did Pike ever say that? Definitely not. And, with that, he moved right on the the next sheet of paper his mommy had put on the table for him. He felt like drawing...stuff. For Gramps. He liked stuff. He loved stuff.

"I'll keep it close," Mira promised Pike even though he was no longer listening, no longer cared. "Always."

"It isn't of you," Laxus argued. "It's of me. And it's mine. Pike, tell her. You want Daddy to have it. Don't you?"

Absolutely not. Instead of answering, he only sat to attention and dropped his crayon before saying, "I go potty, Mommy."

"Ooh." She got to her feet and him to his then, taking the drawing with her, before grabbing his hand and leading him back into the house. "See how big you are now? You even know when to go potty."

Of course he did. That was baby stuff. Like, a whole year and a half ago. Peeing in the potty wasn't difficult at all. Not compared to the horrifying world of learning to tie shoes and eating vegetables.

Laxus was left alone out there then and, with a sigh, got to his feet. The others were all milling around and, if Pike loved Mirajane so much that day, fine. He'd go have some adult time with someone else. Bickslow and Lisanna were too childish for such a thing, Elfman was annoying as hell, and Freed and Gramps were watching the other kids, leaving him squarely with one person.

"So you're sure you aren't sleeping with this guy?"

And that person went by the name Evergreen.

"No, Laxus, tell me what you really think of my character?"

Oh, and he managed to piss her off in the first five minutes of them hanging out.

"I'm just saying," he grumbled as the pair sat out of the front steps, him smoking a cigar and her just glad to be next to him, "that a man don't fork over a place like this for a week and a half to someone he ain't either screwing or related to."

For a moment, she just sat there, not looking at him, and thought. Then she said slowly, "Would you?"

"Would I what?"

"Let me use your beach house. If you had one."

He shrugged. "We're family."

"Are we?"

"In a roundabout way, sure." He took a longer puff that time, of his cigar, before saying, "But, uh, just so you know, I think very highly of you."

"Really now?"

"Yeah. But you're married to Elfboy." He shrugged. "I could see sleeping around on something like that."

Ever elbowed him, if only slightly. "If we're related, it's through him. He's your brother."

"Maybe." He glanced down at her. 'Brothers can say such things about one another, after all."

"Laxus."

"I ain't judging," he told her. "And I won't tell. Just curious."

"It was a woman," she told him. "That let me stay here. She owed me a favor."

"You sleepin' with women now? Elfboy turned you off men, huh?"

"Shut up."

"Can't buy that, considerin' he ain't one, but-"

"You're really annoying when you want to be."

He laughed then and it was deep. The type he reserved for the demon and the boys. But, if one wanted to factually correct, it had been coined far before any of those things entered his life. Back when he was a teenager with two guys and a chick that would walk the planet and back for him.

Sometimes they got those laughs. They amused him that much. They deserved to be appreciated too.

Even when they were all adults, sometimes they still deserved attention too.

"I just don't," he told her then, slowly, "see any of you guys as having friends."

"What?"

Shrugging, Laxus said, "You, Freed, Bickslow. Even Elfman and Lisanna. It's weird, you know? To see you guys with people other than...us. Our family."

"What's in that cigar then, Laxus? That's got you all sentimental?"

"I ain't sentimental." And he wasn't. "And this is a high caliber of tobacco here. For a high caliber of man."

"Uh-huh."

"It is." He took another puff before asking, "So what was it then?"

"What was what?"

"What was it that you did to score this place from some woman? Hmmm?"

"If you really must know-"

"I just must."

"She isn't a close friend, but," Ever started with a sigh, "I was owed payment for a job I did for her and her husband. It was a diamond that was stolen from them that I was supposed to get back from this crook. Which I did. In lieu of the money, they offered a vacation here."

"Never thought I'd see the day."

"What day?"

"The day that you did something so unselfish as take us, all of us, not just the Thunder Legion, out with you on a trip that you earned. Hard earned and deserved. But you shared it. Huh." He grinned down at her. "You really are a mommy now, huh?"

"Shut up."

"That's so cute."

"Oh, whatever, Daddy Dragon."

That got a glare. "Watch it, Ever."

"Even cuter."

Snorting, Laxus said, "I am a father. A daddy. I love my boys. You ain't going to embarrass me about it."

"And you're not going to embarrass me."

"Oh? You love Mace?"

It was his turn to get a glare. "What does that matter? And I thought that we were talking about-"

"We were," he said. "Before you started going on about how cute I am."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Careful, Ever. I've been your brother now for a few years, huh? Can't start perving on me just yet."

"Oh, whatever. You're so full of yourself."

"Should I not be?" And that time when he looked at her, he had back on his intimidation look that he used on her and the rest of the Thunder Legion when they were young, any time they doubted even just a smidgen how awesome he was. Still, to that day, it worked like a charm. "Am I not the Thunder God, Evergreen?"

Looking off, she mumbled something under her breath that he was certain was pretty much admission to his superiority to all. Dealing with Mirajane and her constant discrediting of his greatness, it was nice when the Thunder Legion showed him just how awesome he really was.

Or at least when they bowed down to him. That was cool too. Like when his sons did, but better, because it wasn't just the threat of a timeout, grounding, or spanking that was making them do it.

Hmmm. It was nice to be respected, revered, and (most importantly) feared. There was nothing like it, really.

When he finished with his cigar, Ever and Laxus headed back inside, just in time to run into Freed and Bickslow, who were taking off for somewhere, not even Lisanna tagging along.

"Sorry, boss, no time to talk," Bickslow said with a slight wave.

"I never wanted to do anything of the sort to begin with," Laxus grumbled, headed to the living room. Adult time had been fun. He and Ever never got to hang out alone. A good solid fifteen minutes or so had been grand.

Now it was time for complete alone time. He was thinking of napping. Or contemplating his future. Which would lead to napping.

Ever, however, turned right back around to follow the guys. "Where are you two headed then?"

"Somewhere you're not allowed to go."

"I was talking to Freed, Bickslow."

"And I was talking to you, Ever. So buzz-"

"We're going into town," Freed responded, hardly glancing at the woman. "You're welcome to tag along. Bickslow is only in a bad mood because Lisanna said-"

"I didn't cheat," the seith complained as they headed out the front door. "At cards. She's wrong. Just because I'm better than her-"

"And I'm out." Ever hung back, closing the front door behind the two of them. Because she was not getting into that. No way.

The other two continued on though, Freed being forced once more to listen to the agonizing story of how Lisanna accused Bickslow of cheating at poker the night before. It wasn't fun. At all. It lasted the whole way into town. Once there, luckily, Bickslow posed a question.

"Hey, Freed?"

"Yes?"

"...What were we supposed to be doing again?"

"Again?" five little voices echoed from around the seith's head. "Again, Freed?"

"We," the letter mage said with a sigh, "are trying to locate a chest."

"Right. And some fake gold or something."

"So you were listening over the grumbles about Lisanna."

"I wasn't grumbling _about_ Lisanna," Bickslow argued. "I was grumbling about what she said. Difference."

"Hardly."

"Freed-"

"I plan to write an enchantment tonight, down on the beach," the man said. "After burying the chest, of course. And, when triggered, it'll become like a pitfall, only the sand will cave in, revealing the chest. Thus, the boys solved the map."

"That's a lot of work," Bickslow said. "I mostly just keep them entertained with jokes."

"You keep Pike entertained with jokes," Freed corrected. "The elder two have tired of hearing the same five knock-knock jokes."

"Hey, man," the seith complained, glaring over at him. "I know, like, twenty, so-"

"You are just annoyed that I am doing something nice for the boys," he argued, "and will get credit for it with Laxus."

"I'm out here too, aren't I? Huh? I'll get credit. It's stupid Ever that won't."

"It will be my map, my enchantment-"

"I'm walking around finding the chest. Automatic credit."

"Yes, well, not as much as me so-"

"I'll tell Laxus! That you're hording this over me and-"

"And I will inform him that I did not do it for the credit. Only because I care for his children."

Bickslow's face fell. "You're a tough one to beat, Freed."

"I have had much practice at this."

"And more time to dedicate to it."

Shrugging, he added, "I do expect you, of course, to help me dig out this pit."

"Yeah, about that-"

"I mean if you don't care about Laxus' children and Lisanna's nephews-"

"Really tough," Bickslow sighed in defeat as his babies mimicked him. "Nearly impossible."

Back at the house, the boys were about done with the ocean and Makarov sent them inside to take showers. He instead went into the kitchen where he found Mirajane cleaning up from breakfast and no doubt planning on starting lunch in the next hour or so.

"Hi, Master," she greeted as Pike, who was helping (getting under her feet constantly and doing no good at all), rushed to go hug the man. "The beach over for the day?"

"More like for now, I'm sure," he said as he only patted Pike on the head with a grin. "And how are you, my boy?"

Giggling, Pike rushed over to the kitchen table, having to stand on his toes to reach atop it and snag a drawing off. "Gramps."

It was of an extremely artistic take on their pet doggy, but a veteran of children's drawings from being a father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and guild master to countless young children, he knew exactly what it was. And, with a big grin, he ruffled Pike's white locks and announced his love of it.

Yeah. Pike got some rave reviews from his work. Personally, he wasn't shocked. Everyone loved it. For someone that hadn't even mastered his shapes yet, Pike was pretty well off in the world of art.

That got the little boy out of Mirajane's hair for a bit as, of course, he wanted to go spend time with his grandfather then who was heading off to his bedroom to rest. It wasn't Pike's usual nap time, but he planned on sitting around and coloring anyhow. With the other boys in the shower, the doggy was running free too and followed after them. Master let him sleep up on the bed with them, which was great.

Pike loved his dog. And his Gramps. They were two of the best things in his life. Right up there with Mommy, Daddy, and paper air planes. He couldn't make the latter, of course, but Nate could and they were pretty stinkin' cool.

"Hi, Elf," Mirajane greeted soon after her son was gone as the man seemed to replace him. "What have you been up to today?"

"Other than listening to Lisanna drone on and on about how there's nothing wrong with her accusing Bickslow of cheating if she knows for certain she is?"

"Is there something I should know about?"

"Poker," her younger brother clarified. "He cheated in poker. Or cards. Or something stupid like that."

"Ah."

"The rest of us are ready to pry each others heads off and these two are arguing about a damn card game."

"Makes sense to me."

"Yeah, me too." He sighed. "That's what makes it so bad."

"You wanna help?" Mirajane glanced over at him. "I'm trying to get the place all cleaned up before lunch."

"But won't it just get messy again after lunch?"

"Sure," Mira agreed. "But that'll just give me something to do later."

"I don't think you understand vacations."

Giggling, Mirajane said, "Laxus thinks the same thing."

"The one occasion we agree then."

"No, there's more. Many more," she said. "The two of you just don't like to admit it."

Ignoring that, Elfman remarked, "You two got home pretty early yesterday for your big night out, don't you think?"

"No," Mira said with a shrug as she wiped down the counter tops. "We went to lunch, spent time in the city, and then came back. Why is that such a big deal?"

"Ever told me that Laxus was under the impression that the two of you would, well, spend the night somewhere else. We would have watched Nathan and Pike, you know."

"That was never in the plans," Mira told him simply, not even glancing that way. "So I have no idea where he'd have gotten that crazy idea."

"I was kinda looking forward to it, really," Elfman admitted.

"W-What?"

"A free bed," he explained. The two didn't seem to be vibbing that day given the two misunderstandings. "I would have enjoyed the free bed."

"Oh." Mira gave him a sad look then. "I'm sure if you ask, Lisanna and Bickslow, they'll share the couch and you can have the pullout one. Really."

Elfman only shook his head at her. "There's only a few more days out here anyhow and then we can go back home."

"It is, huh?" Giving him a grin then, she said, "It's been really fun though. While it lasted."

"Compared to taking jobs constantly, most anything would be."

"I like my work," Mira informed him. "And the few times I get to take jobs, it's great."

"I didn't say I didn't like it. I just meant that-"

"No, I understand." That, at least, didn't need an explanation. "Trust me, I really do."

Elfman stuck around for a bit, in the kitchen, to help her finish cleaning up and get lunch started. Once that was done and she alerted everyone that it was done, she went to wake the sleeping dragon. He'd just eaten his breakfast not long ago, after all, meaning that he wasn't hungry. And if Laxus wasn't hungry, she wasn't hungry.

Or rather, she was missing her dragon and was using everyone else's distraction with food as a chance to be alone again.

"Finally," Laxus remarked, trying to keep himself from yawning. Mira had risen him and practically demanded that he put on some swim trunks and escort her down to the beach while the others ate. And him, being the overly compliant husband he was, did so without complaint. "Me and you, down on the beach, alone. I get to admire my demon in her swimsuit without having to worry about that product of that admiration whining about how he hates water."

"Shush." Mirajane was seated next to him, slathering her arms with sun screen. Shifting in the sand, she turned away from him before saying,"And get my back."

"I'll get more than back."

"Anyone could come out on the porch up there, so you better not."

Grunt. "Me and my woman all alone on a beach with the sun high in the sky, well, I might just get carried away."

"Don't worry," she sighed as he gently rubbed at her back. "I'll keep us both on base."

"Mmmm. My demon ain't easy."

"Nope."

"But that's why I keep you."

"That," she agreed, "and I take care of your children."

"That's a big plus too. It ain't easy raising dragons."

"I heard demons are harder."

"Don't know how you'd know that, considering we only got dragons."

Again, she hummed. "Half the time you want them to be demons and the rest you want dragons. So which is it?"

"Whichever I want, whenever I want."

"Your usual solution to problems."

"I'm an easy guy to understand most of the time."

"Not exactly what I meant, but if you think so."

It was Laxus' turn to hum. "Yoru skin's so soft."

"Thanks."

"Though I guess if it wasn't, you could just transform into a version of you that had soft skin," he mused. "Right?"

"Don't ruin this by being annoying, Lax."

"Me?"

"You."

"Never. Sometime sitting in the sand and sun with you? How could I ruin it?" He removed his hands then before wiggling his fingers. "So? Need your front?"

"Laxus-"

"Alright, alright. You win." He went back to facing the ocean. "We won't hookup out here. Or rather you lose, I suppose."

"You're just _so_ funny."

"Thanks."

"Mmmm." With a sigh, she said, "So?"

"So what?"

"Did you wanna talk? Or just sit here in silent contemplation?"

He held down another yawn. "I contemplate, babe, then I also pass out. Your choice."

"Are you honestly that tired?"

"Meh."

"Laxus-"

"We're sitting out here and having a good time, Mirajane," he scolded. "Don't ruin it."

Glancing up at him, she said, "Well, we can talk then."

"Hmmm. I like topics about me, my immense power, and how I bagged the hottest women in all of Fiore. You?"

"I like bits and pieces of that," she agreed. "Mainly the part on the end."

"I thought you might."

"Not the stuff about me being yours or whatever," she was quick to add. "Just me in general."

"Why, you're quite lucky, demon." He patted her on the head. "I love talking about you. Even in general."

"Really now?"

"You're one of my favorite subjects, to be honest."

"Who do you talk about me with then? Hmmm? Dragon?"

"I think, my little tiny demon, that there is a bigger question to be had here."

"And what's that?"

Getting to his feet, Laxus held out his hands to her, waiting for the woman to them before pulling her to her feet.

"Just because I'm talkin' about you," he began as he led her over to where the water was ebbing and flowing onto the beach, pulling in and pulling right back out steadily, "don't mean that I'm sayin' good stuff. Now does it?"

"You talking about me behind my back, dragon?" She was trying to sound tough, but failed as a giggle escaped. Just the feeling of the salty water against her bare feet brought her joy. "That's not every nice."

"I ain't very nice."

"Yes, you are."

"I am?"

"Uh-huh." She grinned up at him. "No matter how much you fight it, you definitely are."

"Meh." He shrugged though one of her hands was still very much interlaced with his. "I'll take you word for it."

Elfman, for whatever reason, was feeling rather father/uncle-ish that day and, after lunch and another nap for Pike took to playing a rousing game of hide and seek with the boys in the house with Makarov and Ever all playing.

"How," Laxus remarked as he and Mirajane passed where she was 'hiding' on the couch while openly seated on it and reading a magazine, "is this hiding?"

"Don't question me," she told him simply. "I am keeping your sons preoccupied, might I remind you."

"You might."

"Laxus-"

"Dragon." Mirajane just kept dragging him right along and up the stairs. "We should be a tad more worried about getting out of these wet clothes, don't you think?"

No. He wanted to stay and argue with Evergr….

Oh. Ooh! Heh.

He took over leading then as, in his zealousness, he pulled Mirajane along.

"if anyone's hiding in our room," he called out as they entered it, "they better get out and get out fast."

"Laxus," Mira giggled as she shut and locked the door behind them. "Honestly."

"Wet trunks go over here," he began as he slipped right out of them before tossing them onto his duffel bag. "And wet demon goes-"

"You're not funny."

"Then why," he asked as he only came over to help her out of her top, "are you laughing?"

Because he was her dragon and she loved him and, hell, he was the funniest man on the planet.

To her.

It went along with the love thing.

"Never get tired of this," he told her as he untied the top first before moving onto the bottoms. "Demon. Do you?"

"A tad."

Grunt. "You stand alone on that."

"I never said I was today though."

"Are you?"

"A tad."

"Mira-"

"We're not," she told him as she slipped out of his grasp, moving to grab one of the towels they'd brought into the room with them and dropped, "doing this."

"Mira-"

"We're in a house, full of people, who are all roaming around playing a game of hide and seek." For someone that wasn't doing 'this', she sure was enticing him with the way she was drying off. All sensual and stuff.

Or maybe Laxus was just hot.

Probably a bit of both.

"We'll be quiet."

"Knock it off."

"If we ain't doing anything-"

"We're not."

"Then why did you lock the door?"

"Laxus," she sighed. "Honestly, could you just-"

There was a bang, suddenly, on their bedroom door as well as the loud wailing of a young child and the screaming of another.

"You're such a baby, Pike!"

"Mommy!"

"I didn't do anything! Don't go tell her I did!"

Another bang. It was probably poor Pike, pounding his fists against it in vain. "Mommy!"

"This is why you shouldn't play with us!"

Mira and Laxus just stared at one another for a moment before she sighed.

"Put on some pants, dragon," she ordered as she went to do the same and then some. "Duty calls."

Heh.

He didn't get to be alone with his demon again for the rest of the day. Whatever it was that Nate did to Pike (they never got a clear answer out of either of the boys) really seemed to affect the youngest Dreyar boy. He clung to Mirajane all day. Even when the brothers made up as they always inevitably did and Nathan told Pike he was sorry and gave him a few hugs, the boy wouldn't leave Mira's side.

They were back to square one on that front.

The house was just too big and scary for him. So he wasn't a demon or a dragon. He was a little baby that just needed his mother to protect him. And? He'd never claimed otherwise. That was Laxus' doing, not his.

Luckily for them though, the boy still wanted to go to bed with Makarov that night for some reason. Pike was nothing if not a creature of habit.

"G'amps," he ordered Mirajane after his nightly bath. All snug in his jammies, the boy wanted nothing more than for the Master to read him a story and then fall asleep with him. Gramps was the coolest. "Please?"

After checking with Makarov (he was shocked that she would even suggest otherwise at that point), she left the two of them alone and got to work winding the other boys down for the night. It wasn't easy. Mace and Nate seemed to be hyperactive that night, even the former giving everyone trouble which was odd.

It was Laxus, finally exasperated with them running around, hitting his breaking point and yelling that got them into their sleeping bags and silent.

"Now that," Lisanna complimented, "was impressive."

"Shut up."

"No, really. You really showed them, Laxus."

"Knock it off."

"Yelling at two little boys. So extreme."

"I hate you."

They were all thankful though. Sometimes it took a bit of grumpiness to get things done.

And, with Bickslow and Freed still out, as they had been the entire day, Lisanna had nowhere to go and would be downstairs with the boy. Not to mention Elfman who, once more, was sent to the couch. In a show of solidarity, Lisanna offered up the pullout, claiming she'd take the couch, but Elfman turned her down.

"What kinda brother would I be then?" he asked.

"The type I would be," Laxus retorted when he overheard them. "I mean seriously."

That left Mirajane and Laxus with, shockingly enough, more time to be alone. When they went down to the beach that time though, it wasn't in suits or the intention of getting in the water. Just to watch the stars, Mira claimed. When she saw Laxus snag the a few bottles of beer from the fridge, she kept her mouth shut and just went along with it.

"This," he said as they settled into the sand, a bottle in each of their hands, "is what it would be like, demon. All day, every day. If you would only let me take you on a vacation just the two of us."

"We just went on a vacation, Lax."

"Right, I know. We're kinda still on it."

"I can't take another for months," she told him. "Maybe eve a year."

"Sometimes I think that you forget that your grandfather-in-law is the Master."

"Sometimes I think that you forget that he's also my employer."

"An employer that adores you. And one that, if things go your way, will also be living with us." He snorted. "I think you can negotiate some more vacation time."

"You'd be surprised."

"Yeah," he grumbled. "So would you."

Neither were exactly astrologers and definitely not astronomers, so the stars were more pretty to them than they were actually providing any information. Laxus spent more time stealing peeks down Mira's shirt than anything else, but hey.

Eventually the two of them fell back, into the sand, because Laxus had said something that Mira claimed wasn't funny, but made her unable to stop giggling and, well, if she was falling over, he was falling over with her, because that was just how their relationship worked.

"I love you," he told her as she buried her head into his side. "Do you hear me, Mirajane? Huh?"

"Yes," she gasped out through her giggles. "I do."

"Good." He was shifting then, spilling his beer in the process, but that was okay, because it was for the demon and he could do things like that, for the demon. "So good."

And then she was looking up at him and he grinning at her and every thing was so perfect and awesome and-

"Oy, boss. Not that it isn't obliged, the free, err, stimulation and all, but I am sorta dating her sister, so this could get rather awkward."

And there was Bickslow and Freed as well as five glowing eyes in the darkness, carrying a treasure chest that was overflowing with gold because, you know, screw Laxus and his life.

"I would ask," the slayer grumbled as he and Mira sat up in surprise at the sight of them coming over, balancing the chest between them, "where the hell you two are coming from. Or even when you got that."

"In town," Freed said, glancing their way. "We were-"

"But," Laxus sighed, "I'm not going to."

"Your loss, boss," Bickslow enticed as, somehow perfectly in sync, the two men dropped the chest as the same time as five voices repeated the words loss and boss continually. "It's pretty cool."

"Also," Freed asked then, "do either of you know where a shovel might be located?"

For a moment, Mira and Laxus just sat there in shock. Then, slowly, she leaned over and up to his ear.

"Do you think," she whispered hotly, leaning heavily into him at the same time, "that we can still find that hotel room?"

Laxus blinked. Then he stumbled to his feet.

"See ya later, children," he told the other men as he helped his wife to her feet. "I got a room to find."

"So was that a no to the shovel?" Freed asked as, with a giggle, Mirajane sprinted off to the house though that was no doubt just a stop onto her true destination, Laxus following. "Laxus? Mirajane?"

"They're gone, bro." Bickslow shook his head after them. "So best get to diggin' with your hands. Either that or the boys plastic ones."

"Can't you just enchant them? Hmmm?" Freed looked to him when it was clear Laxus and Mira were lost for the day. "The boys plastic shoves? With the babies? And then we don't have to-"

"Are you implying that we use child labor?"

"Soul labor," he corrected. "But I'd hope."

"Bah!" Bickslow got down on his knees then and began to dig with his hands. "To even suggest it."

"Right, but forcing them to fight for you-"

"That's love," Bickslow retorted. "Ain't that right, babies?"

Freed was unimpressed with the way they all cooed love back to the man. Only sighed before slowly getting onto his knees to dig as well.

The things he did for Laxus...


	9. Chapter 9

Beach Retreat

Chapter 9

"Do we have to go back? Can't we spend the rest of vacation here? With you doing this forever?"

"What?" Mira giggled. "Rub your tummy?"

"Yes," Laxus moaned, wiggling his toes in delight as he stretched out on the motel room bed. "It's heavenly. A heavenly demon. Unheard of."

"Actually-"

"Mmmmm." He kicked one of his feet that time. "Yes."

"You're like a dog," Mirajane giggled, lying on her side next to him, his shirt unbuttoned and hanging off her shoulders. "Or do dragons do this too?"

"I don't know, but don't stop."

"You're so cute." It was her turn to hum as she added, "But the sun's coming up."

"So?"

"We have to go back."

"No," he told her softly. "We don't. Stay here. Do this. And blows. Forever."

"You just got a tad less cute and still no."

Opening his previously skewed eyes, Laxus whispered, "Was it the forever? Or the bl-"

"What do you think?"

He sighed. "Forever is a bit greedy, I suppose."

"A bit," Mira agreed with a wry smile. "Hey, Lax?"

"Mmmm?"

"You know that I don't… It's not that I don't like when we get to, you know, get away. I just love the boys and our life and-"

"I ain't one of those shallow men that get all bent out of shape because their wife, gee, loves her fucking kids. That's dick thing to do. And if you don't know me well enough to know that-"

"I just feel like sometimes I'm ignoring you."

"You're only raising the best little kids ever," Laxus pointed out. "It'd be expected."

"If we ever grew apart though...over something like that..."

"Hey." He sat up some then as her hand stilled and he reached one of his owns out to cup her cheek. As Mira nuzzled into his palm, he said, "Nate brought us together. He would never drive us apart. Or Pike. Or even this next spawn you've been blabbing about."

"I'm thinking girl," she told him with a grin. "Or boy. Either would be great. Don't you think?"

"I think," he chided gently,, "that you should get back to rubbin' my tummy."

That got the giggle he was hoping for. "Okay, but checkout is in a few hours."

"Yeah, yeah. Just get to rubbin'."

As they were enjoying their lazy morning in a bed twice removed from theirs, Pike was awaking to what would have been a peaceful day; had it been his mother in the kitchen, making his breakfast, and not his Aunt Lissy, who, while a good substitution when sleep still crusted his eyes shut, was not at all like his mother upon closer inspection.

Neither Gramps nor bubba nor Mace or even Uncle Elf could stop the tears once he realized that Mira and Laxus were nowhere to be found. He got told what a big boy he _wasn't_ being as well as what a good boy he _would_ be if he just caled down and listened to them.

It was too late, however, as hysterics quickly set in and Pike was lost to the world.

And what kinda world was it? Huh? Where one minute, you have a mommy and the next, you just don't? The boy didn't know that if poked around a bit, Nate knew far more on this topic than him, albeit not knowingly, and would no doubt have a fascinating insight.

Pike though had no time for deep introspection or even shallow outro-spection. He just wanted his mommy back. And his father too, if that could happen, but mostly just Mirajane. No offense to Laxus or anything, the man was great, but when he got to those deep, sorrowful sobs, only Mommy could calm him down just right.

He loved her. A lot.

Why couldn't they just all be together forever?

In the end he worked himself up into such a fit that he had to be taken back to bed, wrapped up in a blanket, and allowed to sleep it off somewhere.

"Maybe he'll feel better in an hour," Freed sighed.

"I don't care if he does or not," Evergreen complained. "Muzzle him from this point forth."

"Pike's just a man," Elfman grumbled, shooting his wife a frown at the suggestion. "And sometimes men have to have a good cry about things. That's all."

"That," Bickslow complained as he passed the kitchen with his hands over his ears, "is far from all."

"Oh, please," Freed huffed at the sight. "You and your children are far more boisterous than he was."

"Hardly."

"I figured you'd like the sounds, Ever," Lisanna offered. "A child wailing? In despair? Seems like something you'd get off on. Be careful, Elf, you might just get lucky tonight."

"Watch it, little girl."

"Ugh." Elfman shook his head and headed out of the kitchen, towards the living room where Nathan and Mace were playing in, done with their breakfast and very interested in cars. "Leave me out of this."

"Ha! Lissy!" Bickslow was back. "All the hits today, huh? It's your turn to beat up on Ever."

From the stare the woman was giving her, Lisanna decided that that was the antithesis of a good idea. "Uh, no thanks. You carry on as usual, Bicks."

"Your call."

Luckily, before that hour they were giving to Pike was up, Mirajane and Laxus strolled in, all nonchalant, as if they walked in after sunrise all the time.

"Mommy!" Nate was at her side immediately. "They made me eat Lisanna's nasty eggs and I hated them!"

"Awe."

"Mira," Laxus scolded. "Don't encourage that."

"What? He's so cute when he wants me to snuggle him."

"You reenforce bad behaviors."

"Staying married to you is a bad behavior."

Grunt. Touche.

"Pike," Makarov announced to them from his seat in the living room, where he was giving them very disapproving stares, "was very dismayed to awaken to find that he was alone."

"Alone?" That time Laxus snorted. "He's got all of you here."

"Something tells me that he does not see it that way. At all."

"What did he-"

"He cried," the old man said. "Relentlessly. We had to put him back to bed he was so upset by you not being here when he woke up."

"I need to go check on your brother, Nate." Mirajane bent down to snuggle him in her arms a bit before standing and heading off. "Go back to playing with your cousin, huh?"

He didn't like the idea of that until he glanced over there and saw that Mace, that foolish boy, was playing with one of Nate's cars without permission.

Unacceptable.

Leaving Makarov to deal with that, Laxus and his wife headed off to go check on their baby boy. He was all cuddled up in Gramps' bed, a few stuffed animals strewn around.

"I didn't know we let him bring this many," Laxus remarked to which Mira only shushed him before going over to the bed and gently shaking the child's shoulder.

"Pike? Sweetheart? Are you still sleepy?"

Blinking, he was shocked to find the same blue eyes that he had staring concernedly down at him. Then he bolted up, almost smashing his little head to Mirajane's.

"Mommy!"

"Awe."

"Buddy," Laxus scolded as the boy only wrapped his arms around Mirajane's neck before beginning to hug her. "Were you bad?"

"No."

"Did you cry?"

"No."

"Laxus, leave him alone," Mira sighed. "It was our fault. We shouldn't have left him-"

"With his grandfather? And relatives? Come on, Mira. He can't act out."

"He wasn't. He's just a little baby. Aren't you, Pike?"

Most definitely.

Laxus, with a sigh, only reached out to pat his youngest on the head. "Just try and be a big boy sometimes, huh? Me and Mira can't always be with you, you know."

No. What was the man talking about? Why couldn't they? What was that supposed to mean?

"Hush, Lax." Mirajane was carrying Pike then, along with one of his favorite stuffed animals, out of the room. "Did you eat, baby?"

"No."

"Well, Mommy will make you something, alright?"

Superb.

And Laxus knew then that he'd lost his wife for the time being and went to find something else to do. Nate and Mace were still in the living room, but a change of hands seemed to have occurred as it was Freed and Bickslow in there with them then, the former looking less than pleased about something.

"-mean you don't wish to play at the beach today?" Freed was complaining. "It is a very nice day out. You should go outside and dig for treasure. You-"

"We wanna dig for treasure anymore," Mace told him as he rolled a car around on the floor. Nate, with a nod, looked up at the letter mage.

"Yeah," he agreed. "That's boring."

"How is it boring? Digging for treasure is-"

"Boring," Mace said. "We did it forever. And we didn't find anything."

"But what if this time I could guarantee-"

"Boring," Nate repeated. "We're playing cars."

"You always play cars! How is that not boring?"

"Because it's cars." Nathan was confused then and only stared up at Freed. "And those can't get boring."

Meh. Mace could think of a few times, but no need to bring it up right then.

"Freed, don't play into them," Laxus said as he headed into the room and over to where the boys were playing. "You can only figure out a kids mind if you are a kid."

"That makes no-"

"So," the slayer kept up, "Bickslow, do you understand?"

"Actually, yeah." The seith nodded. "Cars never get old. Come on, Freed. Use your head."

Laxus only shook his head. It was hard always being right.

Sort of.

Staring down at the boys, he said, "You guys don't have to go dig if you don't wanna right now. In fact, I was thinking that we could, I dunno… You wanna build a fort or-"

"Yes!" Mace jumped right up at the suggestion. "Fort! Let's build a fort!"

"Great. Go get me all the pillows you can find, huh?"

Nate wasn't nearly as interested in this, but his cousin had been promised forts all trip and, well, what could he do? Besides, after breakfast, Pike wanted to build it with them, but only if Mirajane helped, which meant that Nate got some more time with his other and that ore than made up for the crummy fort building.

It was kinda nasty though because Laxus and Mirajane seemed to still be coming down off their high of spending an uninterrupted night together, meaning he kept kissing her randomly and she kept complimenting hi and it was just all around annoying.

Why did his parents have to love one another? How come he couldn't be like Mace and have them not be weird and just try to rip one another's heads off constantly? Huh? Was it just too much to ask?

Freed, who was still sulking over his failed mission of the treasure chest kind, was inclined to agree. He didn't want to see anyone happy. Not after he'd wasted time and money on the ungrateful offspring of the man that he most admired who, at the moment, couldn't spare any admiration for anything other than Mirajane's bum.

Bleh. He felt like Bickslow or something, ready to just throw a big tantrum, add in some vague threats, and then be on his merry way.

When she passed the room at one point and saw them more than a tad snuggled up to one another, directing more than helping put the fort together, Evergreen also wanted to gag. It was still beyond her at times that the great Laxus Dreyar had been brought down by the ditzy Mirajane Strauss. Then she remembered the flip side of both of them and, meh, it was still a stretch, but a conceivable one.

Especially given the circumstances of their joining.

Still though, sickening to watch unfold.

"What are you doing in here?" she complained at the sight of Elfman in their bedroom, riffling through his suitcase. "I thought I made it clear-"

"Not now, Ever," he grumbled. "I'm looking for something."

"Because that's completely helpful and not at all a bit vague."'

"I packed some extra jewels somewhere," he said simply.

"What do you need them for?"

"There's a grill out there, yeah? On the deck? I wanna use it."

"Oh, like that won't turn into a disaster. Try not to poison us all, huh? Spare the women and children, at least."

"No one," Elfman grumbled as, after retrieving the cash, he got to his feet, "said anything about you having any of it."

That got a snort out of his wife as she crossed the room, headed to the adjoining bathroom. "Whatever, idiot."

"Mature."

"Likewise."

Elfman only bounded right out of the room and down the stairs, calling out if anyone wanted to head into town with him. Lisanna and Bickslow, who'd more than outstayed their welcome everywhere else (apparently, their jokes were not appreciated), readily accepted.

"I am," Laxus grumbled as the door shut behind the three of them, "so glad that all of the are gone. So glad."

"Oh, Lax."

"I am, demon. Annoying as-"

"Shush. And Nate, that part of the blanket's falling. You better secure it."

Mace was pretty content with their fort building. It was massive! And great. As much passion as Nate had for cars, he had twice as much for forts. Just spectacular they were. Blankets and pillows and cushions and just sheer awesomeness. Nothing beat them.

Nothing.

Pike mostly spent his time enjoying the fact that his parents, as Nate had deemed it, were so disgustingly in love. Mainly because it meant that they both sat there, next to one another, where he could see them and not worry about them running off. He didn't think that their kissing was gross and he definitely didn't mind when Laxus would nuzzle his head against Mira's neck. It was just something that they did. He liked it just as much when they kissed and snuggled him.

Nate was just weird, he figured.

But a dang good fort builder. And everything else. It went with the big bubba territory.

When the fort was finally complete, it left the boys with a great place to play cars, Nate decided. And the others had tons of space to do whatever they wanted. Like color for Pike or loudly sing his ABCs for all to hear for Mace. You know, whatever floated their boats.

"Wow, guys," Laxus said as he army crawled through the little entrance to have a look around for himself. "Pretty spacious."

Mirajane was already in there, with Pike, setting up his corner. He had gotten all his stuffed animals fro Gramps' room was making them comfortable. Glancing over at her husband, she said, "I'm sorry, were you invited?"

"Were you?" he challenged back. "Boys, I thought we went over this. No girls. Boys only. It's, like, the most common law of forts there is."

Mirajane gave him the stink eye. "Oh, hush."

"You hush."

"Mommy's not a girl," Nate complained, not looking up from his cars. "She's mommy."

"Thanks," Mira grinned. "I think."

"Aunt Mira's a lady," Mace simplified. "Not a girl."

"A lady, huh?"

Pike waved over at him. "Daddy. Hi."

"Hi, buddy." Laxus continued to crawl then, headed over to the boy and his mother. "What are you doing?"

"Playin' fort."

"Pike," Nathan complained with a huff. "You don't play fort, you big baby."

Well, maybe Nate didn't play fort, but Pike definitely did. And he played it very well. All his stuffed animals thought so.

"Daddy, you're too big," Nate said then. "Get out."

"What? I helped build-"

"Us and Mommy only."

"What? This isn't-"

"Mommy," Pike giggled. "Mommy."

"Will you listen to me sing?" Mace asked his uncle.

"W-Well-"

"I want Aunt Mira too," he said then. She always liked to hear him sing. Always. She said that he was just like her and had an amazing voice. Uncle Laxus mostly just put on his headphones and drowned him out or told him to shut up. Both led to shatter dreams, so either way it wasn't great.

"Fine then. I don't need you people. A woman and a bunch of little boys. I'm a man. I have friends. I have lots of them. I… Freed!" Crawling backwards then, Laxus headed right back out of the fort. "Let's hang out!"

Finally. Freed had only been waiting forever for those words.

And he hadn't even really needed to bury that fake treasure. Huh.

"What is it that you wish to do together, Laxus?" Freed asked as, in vexation, the slayer stormed out the backdoor and onto the deck.

"Something," he growled, "to make Mirajane jealous."

Freed about died. "S-Surely you don't mean-"

"I do." Laxus glanced back at him. "You're going to get the honor of setting up the hot tub for and then serving me beers and lunch at some point. Chop-chop."

The letter mage blinked that time. "Surely you do not think that will make Mirajane jealous...do you?"

"Of course it will," Laxus argued. "Mira loves doing my bidding. It's one of her favorite things about our relationship."

That time Freed sighed. Sometimes he envied the woman and her romance with his idol and other times, he only felt pity towards her.

Shockingly enough, however, (to Laxus at least) he got the attention of a Strauss, but not the one that he'd been pining after.

"Aw, gross," Elfman remarked at the sight of his brother-in-law lounging in the hot tub. "You're out here?"

Laxus frowned. "Yeah, I am, Elfboy, so get lost, huh?"

"I wanted to spend some time out here, reading."

"Reading?" Freed, who was at the table, glanced over. "What sort of book is that?"

"Well, I don't know, Freed. I haven't read it yet!"

Laxus snorted from where he was. "You? Reading? I have to see this."

"I'm expanding my boundaries."

"Sure."

"Is that what you went to the store for?" Freed continued as Elfman joined him at the table. "Or-"

"Steak. I bought steaks. For dinner tonight."

"Hmmm. The demon cooks my steak," Laxus told him simply.

Elfman glared over at him. "I don't think I mentioned bringing you one."

"Watch it, Elfboy. I ain't in the best of moods right now."

"You and Mirajane can go out to dinner again," Freed sighed, ore to keep the peace than anything else. "Clearly, Elfman is going to be cooking for the children at least. Right?"

"Of course. Real men provide for their children."

"That's great and everything, but could you, I dunno, go learn to read somewhere else?" Laxus sunk lower in the hot tub. "I'm soaking."

"Sulking?"

"Soaking!"

"But both," Freed said with a shrug.

"Me and the demon could go out again," Laxus mulled then. "Hmmm."

"I bought Mira a steak," Elfman grumbled. "Just not you."

"Stop pushing me, Elfboy. Before I just-"

"Oh, dragon, stop being mean to Elfman."

And then there was Mirajane, walking out onto the back deck as well, three little boys dressed in trunks following.

"What," the slayer growled, "are you guys doing? No. No! I'm having one-on-one time in here and-"

"Ew, gross, really?" Mirajane moved to grab Nate's hand, stopping him from running over to the hot tub.

"Not like that, woman. But no! Don't let him go! He's gonna-"

"Hi, Daddy." Nate clambered right into the hot tub with the man, Mace soon to follow. Laxus only frowned at them both.

"What happened to your super cool fort?" he complained as Pike, from Mira's arms, pointed over at the hot tub, as if directing her to carry him that way. "That I wasn't allowed in?'

"Is that what this is all about?" Freed asked with a frown. "Honestly?"

"We wanted to come play with you now," Mace told him. "Uncle Laxus."

"Well, maybe I don't wanna- Pike."

At his insistence, Mirajane had moved to set the boy in the hot tub with his father. It looked just swell. And then, once in it, he'd realized that it was water and taken to clinging tightly to Laxus' neck.

"Why did you want in here if you're just going to behave like this?" Laxus asked with a frown. "Huh?"

Because he loved his daddy and if the others were going to get to spend time with him, then so was he.

Duh.

But all that water… And it was bubbling? Why would Daddy enjoy something so terrifying?

"I got you, buddy," Laxus sighed as he glanced up at Mirajane. Frowning, he watched as she slowly pulled off the shirt she was wearing to reveal a bikini top beneath. "Wow, demon. You gettin' in here too?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Boys, get out. Daddy time's over."

"Laxus," Mira complained as the older two boys glared at him, more annoyed that he was trying to get rid of them than that they had any idea why seeing Mira would make him jump to that decision. "Honestly."

Pike glanced over at the woman, who was across the tub fro the. "Mommy. It's water."

"I know, silly. Why do you think that we put on your trunks? Hmmm?"

Because they were very comfy.

"See, buddy?" Laxus grinned at his youngest then as Nate and Mace took more interest in sitting right in front of the jets, all giggly from the feeling. "It's not so bad. Is it?"

Mmmm….it was kinda hot, but…

"It's great, actually," Mirajane said, relaxing then as she shut her eyes. "And Mace, don't drink the water. That's nasty."

Eh. Debatable.

"Freed," Laxus was saying then, nodding over at him. "You're off duty. Plan was a success. Go...do whatever it is you do when I'm busy."

"I'm sure he has a life, Lax," Mira complained, not even peeking an eye open.

"I'm not."

Freed only got to his feet with a frown. "Yes, well, I would be the one to know such a thing, wouldn't I?"

"I guess." Laxus was more concerned with nuzzling his head against Pike's then. When he was feeling like being like a father (it was more on than off), his friends were kinda just side dishes. And at the moment, he wanted the main course. "Hey, go into town and set me and the demon up some reservations, huh? Something nice."

"Again?" Mira frowned. "We're going out again?"

"Did you not want to?"

"Well, it doesn't seem fair to-"

"Elfboy is watching the kids tonight. Or at least cooking for them."

"Watch them too," Elfman agreed. "I'll teach them how to grill!"

"Yeah, great, whatever." Laxus went back to nuzzling Pike. "Somewhere nice, Freed. Get to it."

"Grilling?" Mace looked over out of the hot tub and towards his father. "Really?'

"Of course. Real men know how to-"

"Gag." Laxus said it and did it literally. "Mirajane, make your brother go away. I'm trying to spend time with my kids, nephew, and woman. He's ruining it. And yes, Mace, you should be stoked about being included. Definitely."

"You should be nicer to your friends, dragon," was all Mira reproofed as Mace giggled some more. "Freed's not just a slave."

"He likes it. Freed, tell her how much you like it."

That only got a slight hum mixed with a groan from the man before he was gone, off into the house.

"See?" Laxus lifted Pike up then, out of the water, and over his head. "He loves it. And I love you, buddy."

Yeah, well, Pike loved not being dangled over a vat of water that he was yet to be certain of it's safeness.

Mmmm. Laxus had had _way_ too many beers as he was waiting for Mira's jealousy to kick in. And way too many sandwiches. Freed knew not what it meant to not over-serve. It had hi all...daddy-ish and stuff. To Pike. Nate, who had sanctioned his banning from the fort, was just on the normal level of fatherly love. Pike though was Laxus' favorite son. For the moment.

Another beer and he'd feel bad for Nate, that he didn't know his real mother, and would be favoring him heavily to make up for the unknown crime. It happened sometimes, the overwhelming guilt and sense of abandonment that would spring back up in Laxus over the fact that his mother too was gone. Until he remembered that Nate didn't know and that Mira had no intention of letting a lapse of motherlessness ever occur again in the boy's life, so yeah.

But Laxus was pretty sure he was out of beer, so that probably wouldn't spring up.

That day.

Maybe when they got back home, Laxus would go out on a job, return, get wasted at the guild, and then spend the night snuggling Nate (against his will) and promising him that he'd be there for him forever and ever (until Mirajane threw him out of the house for being so wasted and forcing him to stay out until he sobered up).

Maybe. Sleeping on Freed's couch was getting kinda old.

Hot tubbing was fun for a bit, but eventually, the boys wanted to go down the beach to play. Not search for treasure though. They wanted to literally get in the water which meant that Laxus had to go down there with them, as well as revealing to Mirajane something that greatly annoyed her.

"Laxus, you were in there in your boxers?"

"Uh, gee, Mira, did you ever see me go change into swim shorts? No? Alright then. And what difference does it make?"

She wasn't sure, but it felt like it made a lot.

Pike was, of course, stark against going down there and went with Mirajane inside to wash up. Bathwater was good water. Safe water.

And then it was pretty much nap time which was great because, right on cue, Gramps got tired too. Not to mention the doggy, but he was always tired (so was Makarov, actually, but whatever).

With free time, Mira set out to find her sister but, according to Freed, she and Bickslow had taken off for the night, claiming that they had very important things to take care of.

"Such as?"

"Honestly," he told the woman, "I do not know. And a large part of me is thinking that it is a blessing that I do not."

Inclined to agree, Mirajane dropped the inquisition there and decided to let Laxus parent the kids for a bit on his own. With Pike off napping, she had just enough time to finally take a soak in that master suite tub Elfman had told her about.

All she had to do was run it by Evergreen.

"Gross. No."

Which was easier said than done.

"But Laxus and I are going out on a date tonight," Mira argued. "And I want to-"

"Again?" The woman was in the kitchen, fixing something to eat, and only rolled her eyes heavily. "Do the two of you _have_ to be this annoying about it?"

"About what?"

"You're decent marriage. It's disgusting."

"Okay, for one, it's perfect, thanks, and for two-"

"No. The answer will still be no after whatever two is, so don't waste your time saying it."

Mirajane only crossed her arms and gave Ever her best glare (no, really, with her bangs being down, it was her best; or at least her husband thought so). "I'll just tell Laxus then that you won't let me."

That made Ever drop the milk carton in her hand and turn to stare at her. "You wouldn't."

"Test," the other woman hissed, "me."

A glaring match occurred then before, slowly, Evergreen gave in and went back to what she was doing.

"Fine," she groaned. "You can use the tub in my room. Just...don't… I don't know! Just don't do anything I wouldn't like in it."

"It's only yours for a bit longer, you know."

"Yeah," she sighed, as if in disappointment. "I know."

Mirajane took her time too, in the bath and then getting ready for their night out. She wasn't sure when they would be leaving, but wanted to be more than ready when they did. And Laxus, who came into their bedroom at one point to see her comparing dresses, was more than happy to sit on the bed and watch her.

"I like it," he told her, not for the first time. "Watching you get all guzzed up and stuff. It's great. And appealing. And… You wanna stay at another hotel tonight or-"

"Behave."

Bleh.

With their parents gone though and Gramps dealing with problems the guild was having under Erza's command through the communication lacrima (a mutiny, as it sounded, over her bossiness, as Natsu put it), Nathan and Pike were left with their very excited Uncle Elf as he embarked on the wonderous world of teaching them how to grill steaks.

"Honestly," he told them as Mace stood around too, all more than a tad bored, just from the explanation. Now, Nate liked the idea of firing the thing up, but other than that, it sounded extremely tedious and not at all interesting. "This is the most manly thing in the world."

"Mmmm," Ever hummed from where she was sitting at the picnic table, hardly glancing over from her magazine, "I can think of a few more manlier things."

"No one asked you."

Pike, who was in his aunt's lap, glanced up at her. "Mommy come home?"

He'd already had a good cry and, since he'd wasted so many tears that morning (and in the afternoon when his nap was interrupted by the doggy having to go to the bathroom and waking hi up), it didn't take long for him to get all cried out. All he wanted was for Aunt Ever to let him sit in her lap and read to him. It was his fault, of course, that he hadn't limited the reading material and gotten stuck with some magazine that went totally over his head. All and all it was okay though, because just the sound of her reading was keeping him calm.

Until she stopped then, to combat with her husband, causing him to remember his missing mother.

Ever only turned the page in the magazine with a sigh. "No."

"Grillin's boring," Nate told his uncle what, clearly, they were all thinking. Clearly. "And we're not men."

"What? Of course you are."

"No," Mace said with a shake of his head. "We're boys."

"And we like it that way," Nate said with a nod of his head. Uncle Elf had explained to him before the many tasks that being a man meant. Taking out the garbage, cutting the grass, working, and, apparently, grilling. All horrible. Nate liked just doing nothing all day with occasional portions of play mixed in there.

Why ever grow up?

No, seriously, why?

"Yeah," Mace agreed as he typically did with his cousin. It was easier that way. On days they didn't agree, well, he more or less had to go home and not play with Nate for awhile. Mainly because he didn't want to and both boys would cry (or bite) when left alone with one another.

It was a very complex friendship, but then again, the best kind are.

Pike though only groaned as Aunt Ever began to read to him about some sort of makeup secret that he didn't understand and just wished had some sort of cute animal or something that overly explained the core concepts of all children's stories about friendship or listening to your parents or any of the other annoying things that got shoved down his throat constantly.

Like sharing. Which was really code for giving Nate and Mace all his toys or else getting pinched or sent off to play by himself because, as they claimed, he was a baby.

Bah!

It wasn't fair. When did he get his best friend? Other than the doggy, Mommy, Daddy, and Gramps, he felt so alone.

Oh, and Aunt Ever was there too, being her usual bratty self, refusing to read him any of the good parts of the magazine (though at that point he was seriously doubting their existence).

Heh.

Grilling never got any better and Pike was disturbed to learn that he wasn't allowed any because he might choke or something equally as silly. So what? He still had baby teeth. Who cared? Not him. What kinda oppressive hierarchy were they running those days? Leaving him out.

Gramps, who'd taken to wearing dentures, felt much the same when he wasn't allowed to have any.

The humanity.

So, in protest, the two of them headed to their room without any dessert (they would be dismayed to find out there wasn't any anyhow) as a show of their protest and, mainly, from their fullness of the other food besides steak they were given, meaning that Pike somehow, in his feelings of unjust exclusion, missed Mommy coming home.

"I really wanted to tell him goodnight though," Mirajane complained that night as she and Laxus got ready for bed, her refusing (quite brutally) his offers of getting another hotel room, leaving him to lounge in their two small bed and contemplate if Elfman was or was not going to bed with Ever (for once) because that would mean, more than likely, that his own wife would force him to go sleep on the couch with the otherwise unaccompanied children.

Sigh.

"Then go wake him up."

"I can't just wake him up, Laxus."

"Then don't wake him up."

"But I-"

"Mira." He only glared then. "Come lay down with me. Now."

"But-"

"I will tackle you woman. You know I will."

With a groan, Mira finished what she was doing before quickly heading over to the bed and falling into it.

"Fine," she conceded, "but you better not try anything, Mr. Dreyar."

"Oh yeah?" He grinned over at her. "And why's that?"

"Because," Mira hummed as she laid on her side, facing away from him. Not that this bothered Laxus, as he only moved to snuggle up to her back, wrapping an arm tightly around her waist. "I'm too busy worrying about Pike dreaming about how I didn't tell him goodnight and now that will make him resent me deep down because most boys resent their mothers later in life, you know, and I just think that-"

"Hold on," Laxus groaned, shoving away from her then before, in only his boxers, leaving the room. Settling back into the bed, Mira had a short wait before an awake (and very cranky) Pike came into the room, stuffed tiger in hand, whining from his father's arms.

"See, Pike? Mommy wanted you to sleep with her."

"I did not," Mira said, though it obvious that she wasn't complaining too much as she quickly took the boy into her arms, snuggling and kissing him to quell his cries. It worked. And, since he was so sleepy already, Pike was out rather quickly.

Then Laxus had to climb back into bed and, with cuddling out, lay there as he watched Mira grin down at her baby.

"You happy now, demon?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Thought you would be." He kicked the covers down a bit more before tugging them back up around them all. "That's all I seem to do these days, you know. Make you happy."

Humming, she offered, "You do a good job at it."

"Yeah." He let out a slow breath, watching as she shut her eyes and drifted off. "I know."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"What," Evergreen hissed as she walked down the sand covered path and down to the beach, "are you idiots doing?"

"Oy, Ever!" An extremely drunk (if not a bit of something else) Bickslow waved at her from over by the tide which was coming in. "Check it out! We found fireworks."

"It's five in the morning," the woman complained. "You woke up everyone in the house! Pike's crying, the dog's going crazy, Laxus is threatening to come out here and-"

"He should," Lisanna giggled as she stared up at the sky, waiting for Bickslow to light another. "These are great."

"Yeah, boss should definitely see this," Bickslow agreed, moving down to light another one without a care. "They're awesome!"

"Awesome!" his babies cheered as they flew around, shooting off their green beams in pure glee. "Awesome!"

"You don't get it, do you?" Ever shook her head. "Laxus is going to come down here and-"

"And have a great time? Yeah, we know." Bickslow snickered. "Go get him. Go get everyone!" Turning back towards the house, Bickslow cupped his hand around his mouth before screaming, "Hey! Everyone come check this out! We found fireworks! Oy! Some of the lights turned on in the house. And someone's coming out! I bet it's boss! Hey, boss, you see my fireworks? Pretty cool, right? Gee, he's runnin' awful fast. Uh, Lissy, maybe- Boss, leave me alone!"

Hell no. He'd been woken up by the bangs from the fireworks, the sound of Pike crying, and the demon complaining. He was getting some damn retribution.

"Laxus, leave him alone," Lisanna complained, leaving the fireworks behind to join in the chase, though she was after Laxus, hoping to somehow stop him. "He didn't do anything!"

"Enough, guys," Ever complained, though she only took a step back. Whether or not Laxus beat the crap out of Bickslow was rather moot to her. She was already up and out there. Might as well watch the action. "Seriously, knock it off. I mean it. And here comes Freed."

Of course. Knowing that his idol was out there, on his own, well that just wasn't acceptable. He had to come to his rescue. He had to.

And of course that got Elfman up, though he was far more concerned with protecting Lisanna which was just bizarre because no one was bothering Lisanna, she was more the bother-er, but whatever. Next came Nate and Mace, running out there to see what was going on. They thought it was funny and were giggling through their yawns, cheering on their respective fathers because, yeah, they loved Bickslow, he was great, but over their own fathers? No way.

Makarov didn't make an appearance, but that was only because before she finally came out there, Mirajane went into his room, told him she'd take care of things, that he didn't need to worry. So he didn't.

That was how Mirajane appeared too, as the boss, with Pike still sobbing softly from her arms, a glare poised on her face for all of them. The dog had escaped with her and took to rushing to Nate and Mace's sides, howling slightly just from excitement. Laxus and the others were still running around and it was all just so much fun.

Not for Pike though, but he rarely had fun in such situations. Too much excitement just made him completely shut down.

Mirajane, however, only watched for a moment in complete distaste. Laxus had caught Bickslow, but Lisanna had caught him when he stopped to pummle the man and Elfman was trying to pull his sister off Laxus, though that was because he wanted to punch the slayer and Freed had his sword drawn, ready to skewer Elfman, but Laxus knew, he fucking knew, if he laid a hand on either one of Mirajane's dorky siblings that he'd be in the dog house so he was trying to just focus on getting back at Bickslow, but that wasn't going so great and-

" _Enough!"_

And then the voice of Satan Soul was yelling at them and even though she was still just standing there as Mirajane, there was a purple aura about her that more than gave off her demonic vibe.

They all froze too, just from the sound of Mirajane's voice, staring over at her in the darkness of the early morning, Pike being the only one to speak then.

"Mommy," he whined, rubbing his head into her neck. "Go back sleep."

Bouncing him slightly, she continued to glare at the others. Voice slightly less dark then, she said, "You all have five minutes to clean up the trash fro the fireworks and go get back in your beds and go to sleep."

"Mira-" Laxus tried, but she shook her head.

"No. It is the middle of the night. You upset Pike, you woke up Nate and Mace, and you also bothered Master. Grow up. All of you."

Ever, who was still standing off by herself with her arms crossed, took to nodding. Stepping towards them, she said, "Really, you guys should apologize to me for- Oh!"

It was so sudden too. Ever took one misstep and, just like that, she fell into what they thought at first was a pitfall, though Bickslow and Freed knew almost immediately.

"Mommy!" Mace rushed forward, nearly falling into the pit as well. Nate was quickly at his side.

"Wow!" the blond haired boy exclaimed. "Look, Mace! Aunt Ever found the treasure!"

Well, more like she'd fallen on the treasure. The treasure chest, as it were, and it was less than fun. Nate and Mace, ever the adventurous boys, jumped right down into the hole as well, the former landing on his aunt who none too nicely shoved him right off.

"Damn it, Freed," she screamed as he and Elfman moved to help lift her back out of the hole. "I'm going to kill you guys!"

"Maybe we should just leave her down there," Bickslow mused to his girlfriend who kinda still had one hand on Laxus' arm, though she was no longer gripping it tightly. "All in favor-"

"Shut up, idiot," Laxus complained, shaking his sister-in-law off before heading over to his wife. She was standing over the hole, with Pike in her arms, and he didn't want the two of them to slip and fall. "Demon, be careful. Sand isn't exactly the most stable stuff in the world you know."

She let Laxus drag her back away from the hole, though that was more because Pike had gotten upset by Ever falling and she figured it was about time to take him back inside.

"It," she told Laxus with a frown, "is late. Make them all go to bed."

"Of course, demon."

"And no more getting them all riled up."

He thought about arguing that he was attempting to do the exact opposite, but figured that it wouldn't have mattered much to the woman what he said.

"Yes, demon." He pressed a kiss to her head before saying, "You heard her, guys. Go back to bed. Now. You-"

"Daddy, we found the treasure," they heard for the hole where Nate and Pike were attempting to pop the pesky lid on that chest. "Or Aunt Ever did."

"I know," Laxus congratulated. Glancing at Mirajane, he said, "But, uh, Mommy wants us to go back in. Right, Mirajane?"

Rolling her eyes heavily, she moved to gently set Pike down on the ground, though he only moved to cling to Laxus., before walking over to the hole and glance down in it.

"You guys want to play pirates?" she asked, tone a lot softer when speaking to the children than the adults. "Huh?"

"Yes," Mace said, looking up at her. "Please, Aunt Mira?"

With a sigh, she said, "Well, I guess we'd have gotten up in two hours or so anyways."

"Alright!" It was Bickslow that exclaimed that, punching at the air before rushing back over to where he'd left his discarded fireworks. "Hey, boys, you think those are cool, check these out! Err, uh, if it's okay with you, boss."

Laxus looked to Mirajane (the boss's boss as it were), waiting for her to nod before he gave his okay. They were pretty isolated on the beach and he figured that if they'd disturbed anyone before, they'd have come to complain already.

Pike, however, did not like that idea at all. The second the first one exploded in the sky, he started crying again, rubbing his face into his father's leg.

"Oh, buddy," Laxus sighed, reaching down to gently pat him on the head. "You're just a little baby, aren't you?"

Uh, yeah. And he never tried to pretend otherwise. Why they were so insistent to prove him wrong on that was beyond him.

Elfman and Lisanna helped the boys get their treasure chest out of the hole, pretending to be just as enthused with it as they were. Well, Lisanna was pretending, as Bickslow had long told her about it. Elfman, however, had no idea that there was one and was kinda still in shock.

Until, that is, they popped open the top and saw the plastic gold in there. Then he pretty much caught on.

"You look disappointed," Ever remarked dryly as he scratch at his head.

"A bit."

"You're such an idiot."

"Well sorry, Ever, that not all of us can be so intelligent," he grumbled. "At least I didn't fall into a pit-"

"It had an enchantment on it!"

Nate and Mace, however, were very taken by the ruse and took to digging through the chest, looking at the plastic gold, jewels, and pieces of wrapped candy that Freed and Bickslow had filled it with. Retrieving a plastic beaded necklace, Nate immediately took it over to the sobbing Pike who had been transferred to Laxus' arms by then.

"Here, bubba." Nathan held it up and Laxus leaned down so that he could put it around his still whining brother's neck. "See? We got treasure. Like real pirates! Now we can buy a ship and a house and a parrot and a motorcycle-"

"Maybe," Laxus cut him off, "we start with lunch, huh? You boys can treat us to lunch. How's that?"

"I'm not wastin' my treasure on you," Nathan told him with a frown. "Mommy maybe, but not you."

"I'll buy lunch." Mace looked over from the chest, which he was still digging through. "Uncle Laxus. I- Oh, wow!"

From the bottom of the chest, the younger boy had fished out a golden crown which he held up in the brisk predawn hours, staring at it victoriously. Nate, of course, saw this and headed over to rightfully claim what was clearly his. Birthright and all. He was not only the oldest, but also a Dreyar. According to his daddy, that pretty much made him a prince and he deserved everything he ever wanted (except when his daddy wanted it instead). And at the moment, Nate wanted that dang crown.

Only Mace, somehow, hadn't gotten the message. Which was weird, after all those years, not to pick up on something like that, but what could you do?

"That's mine," Nate complained as his cousin put the crown on his own head. "Mace. Give it. Now."

And even Bickslow and Lisanna, who'd focused in on their fireworks and, fine, were more than a bit out of it, knew that there was a problem brewing and fast.

"No." For once, Mace wasn't willing to just give into the other boy. "I found it. It's mine."

"No, it's not. I'm older. It's my treasure. So give it."

"You guys didn't," Ever groaned loudly, even enough so the boys' could hear, had they been paying attention, "buy two crowns?"

"There was a time crunch, okay?" Freed was exasperated by that point. No one had thanked him. Said good job, Freed. You're a really good surrogate uncle. Especially considering _you have no blood relation to any of us_. "And only Bickslow and I carrying things."

Pike was doing better then, as he'd gotten the necklace, and Laxus was able to gently set him down in the sand. Walking over to the boys then, Laxus looked down at the arguing cousins before saying, "Nate, sometimes Mace gets stuff too. It sucks, but it's life."

"No! It's my crown! I found the treasure."

"Na-ah." Mace looked over at Evergreen then. "My mommy did. So it's mine!"

"Well, mine," Ever grumbled, rubbing at her no doubt bruised back, "but sure. And it's Mace's, Nathan, so-"

"No!" And then he did it. He reached out to snatch it from the younger boy and shove him down as well. Unfortunately for him, Mirajane was more than done with all of them that morning and, for once, didn't leave the punishment to Laxus. She didn't even say anything either. Just moved faster than any of them, snatched her son up, and drug him off to the house, leaving his precious crown behind.

Mace was crying too, because he was so upset, which usually would have upset poor Pike, but he was still pretty happy with the necklace his bubba had given him and went to go make Mace feel better. Sometimes he could be a big boy. Sometimes.

"Here, Mace." Pike picked the crown up from where it'd fallen before going to put it on atop his cousin's head, taking the time out to pat his brown hair first. He liked Mace's haircut. A lot. "You king."

Mace was still sitting there in the sand, with Laxus and Freed standing over him, trying to comfort him (which was awkward because, well, they weren't much for crying kids to begin with but both felt slightly at fault) and felt a little silly that little baby Pike was trying to make him feel better. It made him feel like the baby. And even though it was hard to stop crying on a dime, he did take a big sniffle before saying, "Thank you, Pike."

Yeah, whatever. Pike was back to looking down at his necklace then and wondering when his mommy was coming back to take him to Gramps once more, so he could get back to bed.

Then that tricky Bickslow had to go and set off another firework, sending the boy running first to Laxus and then even further away, which was hard in the sand, trying to make it back to the house. He needed his mother. Stat.

"Pike, buddy, hold on." And Laxus took off after him. "Daddy'll take you inside. Don't you run from me."

Then Mace was by himself with the other adults, just sitting there in the sand. Being the pirate king and having a treasure, shockingly, wasn't nearly as fun without someone to share it with.

Huh.

His father came over them to lift him up and set him on his shoulders.

"Here, Mace," Elfman said with a grin. "You wanna watch the fireworks?"

"You should, kid," Bickslow insisted. "I scoured the land for these, you know."

And he was all jittery, the seith was, for some reason, making Mace dizzy when he stared at him too long. Yawning, the pirate king only rested his head atop his father's before saying, "I wanna go back to sleep, daddy. And play pirates tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow," Ever said, though she was only walking over to gently take him from Elfman's shoulders and drop him on the ground. "But I know what you mean. Come on then."

Being sure to take his crown with him, Mace wouldn't go until his Aunt Lissy and Freed promised they would watch over the treasure for him and until he and the other boys got a chance to divvy up. Once that was all cleared up, he let his mother take him back inside to make up with Nate, who was sitting on his sleeping bag crying, before going back to bed.

After getting Pike situated with his grandfather once more, Mirajane and Laxus went back to their bedroom, vainly attempting to get some sleep over the sound of the fireworks outside.

"We really gotta get away, just once, with only me and you," Laxus grumbled as Mirajane only snuggled up to him. "Seriously."

"Mmmm."

"And you? Punishing Nate?" Laxus whistled lowly. "I think I kinda like this dynamic."

"I punish him."

"Not like that."

"When he deserves it."

Laxus only grinned at her. "What'd you do to him anyhow?"

"I just took him inside and told him that I was very disappointed in him. That he was the older boy and that it was his job to take care of the other two. Then I wagged my finger and him and warned him that if he got off his sleeping bag, for any reason, I wouldn't even let him play with any of the treasure at all."

"And that worked?"

"That worked."

Laxus snorted. "I'dda spanked him."

"Yeah and we see where that gets us all the time."

Grunt. Then, glancing over at their window, he said, "We're not getting any sleep, are we?"

"Not with your stupid bodyguard out there playing with fireworks."

"My stupid bodyguard?"

"The very same."

"How about your stupid sister- Ow! Don't pinch me!"

"She's your sister too."

"Yeah? And he's practically your bodyguard-"

"In what way?"

"In the way that if I tell him to, he will be. And I do tell him to sometimes, so-"

"You do not."

"I do too. I tell him to watch over my family if I'm gone," he grumbled. "I tell them all to! And you're my family, aren't you?"

Huffing, Mirajane just went back to laying there for a moment. Then she whispered, "Bickslow's still stupider than Lisanna."

"That was never called into question."

With a hum then, she held back a yawn before saying, "Let's just sleep for a bit more, huh? Enjoy it before it's over."

Laxus leaned down to nuzzle his head against hers. "Before it's over."

It wasn't very many hours before they were back up, however, as the still hyped up Lisanna and Bickslow filtered back into the house where they basically just talked loudly, ran around, and bothered the hell out of everyone in their boredom and bouts of anger. Laxus could tell that they were on something, but honestly, at that point, he was too tired to lecture or sigh or even really pay them any mind.

He'd never wanted a vacation to be more over.

It only got worse when, after breakfast, Mirajane sprung it on him that it was finally time to talk to his grandfather about the ever lingering question of if he'd move in with them or not. Which really wasn't a question at all, or at least not the one being poised. It was more of an inquiry of whether or not force would be involved in it than anything else.

So after setting the boys up down at the beach, to play with their treasure (they were taking turns wearing the crown and even let Pike wear it for a bit) while Freed helped them divide it mostly between the older two, though they gave Pike the rare thing he demanded. Honestly, Pike was more concerned with continually glancing back over at the deck where his mother and father were, speaking with his grandfather. They'd told him that they'd be done soon and then he could come be up there with him and, well, he couldn't wait until then.

The beach may have started to become more familiar, but it was far from being safe.

"So what was it that you kids wanted to talk to me about?" Makarov asked as he sat up at the table on the deck with his grandson and Mirajane. "Hmmm?"

Laxus was seated on the other side of the table, with his wife, and glanced at her to see if he was supposed to take the lead. When he got that idea, he cleared his throat.

"Well, Gramps," he said slowly. "Uh…Mirajane and I have been thinking a lot about, you know, getting a house. I mean, we're all cramped over there, in that apartment, and we kinda want another baby pretty soon, but-"

"If this is about a loan," the older man cut him off his grandson, "you know that I would love to help you two and I will in any way I can, but right now my funds aren't exactly-"

"Master, we'd never ask you for jewels," Mirajane was quick to interject. "You know that."

"It's quite alright," he assured her. "Getting a loan on a house isn't easy and-"

"Gramps, that ain't it," Laxus said with a shake of his head. Looking the man in his eyes, Laxus said, "It's actually got a bit to do with your low funds though."

"I said I don't have money to just be handing out to the two of you," Makarov snapped with a frown, thinking Laxus was preparing to slight him in some way. "Not that I don't have-"

"Didn't mean it that way," Laxus said. "Just let me get this out, alright?"

Now more than a tad bit grumpy, Makarov asked, "What is it?"

Mira read the tension between the two men as easily as she always did and took over.

"Well, it's just that when we get the new house," she began, "we don't really know where it'll be. In Magnolia, of course, but maybe not as close to you as we are right now. And it would just be easier, I think, for all of us if when we moved, you considered moving in with us."

That sat there for a moment or two as they just all stared at one another. Then Makarov frowned.

"I do not," he grumbled, "think I'll be taking you up on that offer, kids."

"Gramps-"

"What good would it do me, Laxus? To be with the two of you? Hmmm?"

"A lot," Laxus said. "And it would take a lot of stress of Mirajane if you were in our home with us so she doesn't constantly have to stop by your place to-"

"Dragon," Mira complained, shooting him a look. Makarov only stifled at the comment.

"I have never asked you to come over, Mira," he said simply. "And if it's some sort of bother to you-"

"Master, that's not it. Laxus is just-"

"You're the one that just barges your way in and insists on making me food and cleaning. I never requested-"

"I know, Master, and it has nothing to do with anything. Laxus is just-"

"Right," the slayer grumbled. Because he was always right. It was just a rule. "And you're doing it, Gramps."

"I am not. I'm more than happy at my home-"

"And you'll be just as happy with us," his grandson told him. "It'll be better for us all."

"How? Hwo would it be better for me to give up all my freedom-"

"No one wants to take that away from you, Master," Mirajane told him. "I only want what's best for you. And right now, staying in your home on your own isn't..."

"You caught the mattress on fire last month," Laxus told him dryly.

"On accident! I fell asleep and-"

"Then you flooded the house just about when your toilet got backed up and you couldn't cut off the water-"

"The handle was stuck," Makarov said as his grandson only shook his head and went on.

"And, of course, there was the week before vacation when you were rooting around in your closet and that stack of boxes fell on you-"

"I could have got up," the elderly man complained. "On my own. Mirajane just happened to be over and it was easier for her to help me than-"

"Gramps, face it," Laxus said with a sigh. "You can't take care of yourself anymore. You'll die in that home on your own."

His grandfather looked ready to jump across the table. "Why you-"

"Laxus," Mira hissed with a frown. They'd agreed to keep it light and loving. Not demeaning and embarrassing. "You shouldn't-"

"You need to come stay with us," the man simply went on. Then, clearing his throat, he looked off slightly. "And we want you. You think this is easy for me? Huh? I don't let no one in my home. But I want you there. You took care of me when everyone else was gone; now let me return the favor."

That time the silence that settled down around them wasn't as thick. Not able to meet the man's eyes either, Makarov only coughed before saying slowly, "I don't wan to be a both-"

"You're not," Mira said with a slight smile. "We love you. And the boys love you."

"And you can help us pick out the house," Laxus went on. "We'll get you set up in your own corner of the house, away from the boys. Your own bathroom, even, if we can find a place like that."

"I won't be living there for free," the Master was quick to add. "I'll pay my own way. I-"

"No, Master," Mira said, shaking her own head then. "You know we won't let you."

"You can watch the boys. Sometimes," Laxus added. "That'll be payment enough. Really. And give Mira a break."

Her grin grew. "The boys will really like the idea, I think. You know that they love you too. Although Pike's probably going to hate the new house at first-"

"That boy don't like anything," Laxus grumbled, glancing down at the beach where Pike was busy chewing on some plastic gold. "At all."

"Mmmm." Mira couldn't help, but to lean against Laxus' arm a bit. "When he learns that you'll be moving in with us though, Master, I'm sure he'll fall in love with the house."

Laxus could tell though that his grandfather was still slightly upset and only slowly got to his feet. He needed to give the old man time to think. Looking down at his wife, Laxus said, "Let's go rescue him then, huh? Because he throws a fit?"

She was glanced at Makarov then before nodding slightly. "We can talk about it more at home, huh, Master? We're only begun to look at properties, so who knows when this'll all start?"

But the man didn't even glance at her and she knew, like Laxus, that he needed some time and only got to her feet as well. Laxus nodded at his grandfather before wrapping an arm around Mirajane's shoulders and moving to lead her down to the beach.

Her head got a kiss on the way, making the woman giggle.

"I love you," he told her. "You know that?"

"I think I might have picked up on that a few times, sure." Grinning up at him, she whispered, "I don't think Master was too happy."

Laxus sighed slightly before saying, "Honestly, demon, I think he'll enjoy it. But he's like Pike; he likes to do things his way. The same way. Forever. But he needs someone to stay with him and that's not an option right now. The only one is for him to come stay with someone. To come stay with me. I'm his grandson. He belongs with me until…"

"Us," she was quick to correct. "He belongs with us."

And he did.

Pike was more than glad to have his parents down there on the beach and it wasn't much later that something magical happened. Well, not magical, but rather exciting for Mirajane and Laxus. The others too. It was while Mirajane was playing where the water was coming in, helping Mace look for seashells, while Freed and Laxus talked softly and sorta kinda watched Pike and Nate play with the treasure. They missed, however, the way that Nate was totally hogging the candy pieces and was just being super mean and...and…

Pike just wanted Mirajane!

So he jumped up, tears already prepped, headed straight for his mother, ocean be damned. He kinda started stumbling, before he made it to her, and fell into her legs when he got there.

"Mommy!"

"Oh, Pike," she said as Mace only moved to hold out the seashells he'd gathered. "What's wrong?"

Life. Life was what was wrong.

Then it happened. The water was rolling back in and the foamy waves scared the little boy as always and he clung to Mirajane. That time, however, she didn't lift him up. Only made him stay there, holding onto her leg, gently stroking his white locks as Mace looked on in concern.

"Demon," Laxus called from further up on the beach, Freed and Nate watching as well. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine, Lax." Mirajane hummed slightly as Pike only nuzzled harder into her leg. "Aren't you, baby?"

No! Err… No! Still no. The water was going back out then though and he was only a little wet, but still no.

Letting go of Mirajane's leg, he stared up at her with hurt eyes, she she hadn't rescued him in the way he'd wanted. His mother only continued to stare down at him though. The whole vacation was starting to get to her a bit, perhaps.

Or more like she was far more concerned with the fact that the Master was still up on the deck, alone, thinking, and it had her so worried about him that there wasn't much room left over for Pike and his usual phobias.

But the water was coming back in again and Pike could only cling to her once more, Mira's eyes still up on the deck, as her youngest prayed for a miracle. And he got it. Sorta.

The water… It didn't hurt him. It wasn't hurting him at all. It actually sorta...tickled his feet and felt funny. He still didn't like it, but…

And there. It was going right back out. And Mommy was still there and Mace was going back to seashell hunting and, well, Pike didn't run back for Daddy and bubba. Keeping his arms wrapped around his mother, when the water came back in, he stood as still as possible, letting it gently wash over his feet before back out.

That time Mirajane glanced down at him at the exact right moment and happened to catch it.

"Why Pike," she giggled. "You're not smiling, are you?"

No, but he definitely wasn't frowning. Or crying. Or being a complete and utter baby.

That next wave of water that flowed in was actually rather...nice. His arms were slowly clinging less and less tightly around his mother and, well, he was fine. Pike was fine.

Huh.

He didn't fall in love with the water or anything. And he definitely wouldn't go out any further than that (Laxus would try later that night and it would _not_ go over well), but he could stand there with his mother and not sob. That was definitely something.

And that afternoon, the boys totally bought lunch. Totally. Before leaving the house with everyone in tow (even the extremely downcast Bickslow and Lisanna who were, apparently, coming down off their high) other than the dog, they cashed in a good chunk of their gold (Freed explained to them that exchange rates would be much harsher on them in the real world and to just let them deal with that; they'd give them a fair deal) to their fathers before using the jewels they got to take everyone out to get burgers. They let Pike wear the crown down there, for being such a big boy about the water, but Nate was sure to let him know that he in no way was the pirate king.

No way.

Makarov seemed out of it and all the boys took notice, even Mace, because he didn't wanna play with the or make silly faces to keep them entertained. Pike took this especially hard because, well, he need his Gramps to pay attention to him. They were best friends.

"G'amps," he complained on the walk back home.

Most everyone was splintering off, as it was going to be their last night in town. Lisanna and Bickslow were headed straight back to the house (they needed more sleep), Mace and Nate had snagged the crown and were going with Evergreen and Freed to shop (more look scope out what sorts of things they could buy with the rest of their gold), and Elfman was going off on his own for awhile. Pike didn't catch why, but he didn't care. Because his three favorite people, his mother, father, and Gramps were all going walk about town one last time and, well, it wasn't hard for him to make the choice to go with them.

"What is it, boy?" Pike was walking along beside him and, when he glanced down, Makarov faked a grin for him. "Hmmm?"

"I ride?" He stared up at him. "P'ease?"

It probably been better for Pike to ride on his father's shoulders, if anyone's, but Makarov was never one to turn down his grandsons. Or anyone hardly. And Pike felt best up there, anyways, on his great-grandfather's shoulders. He and the man were close. And besides, Mirajane and Laxus were kinda caught up in themselves in the moment, as they were speaking of their trip back home in the coming hours and what they'd do when they got there. Now that they had sprung the concept of moving in with them on Makarov, they'd have to hurry it along. Laxus needed to take some big jobs and Mira needed to start seriously considering homes. It would be no easy feat. Even the conversation was tedious.

Which was just as well for Pike, as it gave him some more time with his grandfather. He didn't know yet, of course, that by the end of the year he and his grandfather would spend everyday together. Not that it would have made difference. He'd have appreciated the time they had then just as much, he was sure.

"Take nap?" he asked his grandfather as they trudged along behind his parents. One of the best things about his grandfather was that he didn't try to make him talk like a big boy. Bleh. "G'amps?"

"When we get back to the house?"

"Yes! Take nap? 'gether?"

Makarov only sighed, gently squeezing the boy's feet which he was holding tight to. It was easy to lose, of course, in the midst of running a guild hall and all the troubles that Fairy Tail brought upon him what really mattered to him those days. Far, far too easy.

"Of course, Pike," he agreed. "Together."

* * *

 **That's it for Beach Retreat. Tons of one-shots coming up for this series though. And I know I've been a bit MIA recently, but I was just getting everything all written up for Miraxus Week (which starts today, in case any of you are wondering). Probably will get back to posting stuff more frequently after it passes.**


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